The Girls Who Lived: Philosopher's Stone
by kamuinoyume
Summary: The Boy Who Lived never existed, because on the night of 31 July 1980, Lily Potter gave birth to two beautiful girls instead.
1. Chapter 1

**AN**: This is finished. It has 13 chapters in total, and I will be uploading it weekly on Monday.

**Warning: This is not a female-Harry fan fiction! Neither Diana nor Heidi are female versions of Harry! They might be Harry's sisters in some alternative universe, but none of them is Harry's female version!**

**Disclaim**: I don't own anything (except maybe for Diana and Heidi)! This all belongs to J.K. Rowling, but you already know that, so why am I still boring you with this? I have no idea.

**Chapter 1: The Girls Who Lived**

The Boy Who Lived never existed, because on the night of 31 July 1980, Lily Potter gave birth to two beautiful girls instead. The girls were names Heidi Rosalie Potter and Diana Lillian Potter. They were the most unusual pair of twins that existed, mostly because you could tell them apart quite easily: Heidi had brilliant-green eyes just like her mother and James dark hair color while Diana had her mother's vivid-red hair and her father's hazel eyes. Heidi was into sports and loved reading while Diana was a more girly type of girl who enjoyed gossips and had an unusual obsession for animals that preoccupied her parents quit a lot.

But that was not the real reason that concerned the headmaster Albus Dumbledore at the moment, though it could be listed among them. The biggest concern he had at the moment was the prophecy that had been made barely a few weeks before the twin girls and young Neville's birth, the prophecy that concerned the most feared Dark Lord of all times and a child that was supposed to be born at the end of the 7th month. He hadn't really known which child it was referring to, the Potters or the Longbottoms, until the twins had been born.

Now he was convinced that the prophesy was speaking of the Longbottom boy, because the prophesy clearly stated that it was a "_one_ with the power to vanquish the - Dark Lord", not two. So he deemed the Potter children safe from the Dark Lord and only sent in hiding the Longbottom couple together with their new born son Neville.

Imagine his surprise when the Potters were found dead in their house on Halloween night and the Dark Lord had apparently lost his powers…

The only mark that the Dark Lord left behind were two identical lightning bolt scars on the twin's foreheads, Heidi's was just above the right eye while Diana's was just above the left, alas another thing to distinguish them by. No one knew what really happened that fateful night, just that the Dark Lord had vanished for good.

As for the twins, they were sent to live with their only living relatives the Dursleys.

Petunia and Vernon Dursley were one of the most common and anti-magic muggles you could find, still Dumbledore deemed it safe to leave the girls in their hands, on account that their godfather Sirius Black had been charged with first degree murder and suspected to be a Death Eater and therefore couldn't take custody of them.

But the girls didn't have the harsh life that Minerva McGonagall thought they'd have, far from it.

Petunia, who had indeed hated Lily for being _special_, had only one thing that she wanted more then to be a witch (because there was no denying it she hated her sister because Lily was a witch and she was not), and that was to have a girl. So, imagine her surprise when she found the two cute little girls at her doorstep when she went to take out the bottles of milk. She had been confused of course, and more then a little angry with this Dumbledore guy who thought he could just solve everything by writing a stupid letter where he informed her, in a much to formal manor in her opinion, about her beloved sister's death and leave all responsibility of raising the two girls on her and her husband's shoulders, the nerve of some people!

She had made a decision that day. She would raise the girls, but never (if it was possible) _ever_ mention her sister, or her sister's husband or the world in which their real parents lived in for the matter.

------

"Oh, come one! What's so frightening about _big D_!" whined a beautiful red headed girl.

"He'd kill me Diana!" shrieked a small and thin boy with brown hair and blue eyes.

"Ah-ah, you're such a wuss, it's no wonder Dudley can boss you around," Diana sighed just as she heard a shout from behind.

"Hey, big D! I found your sister!"

The boy that was by her side gave a frightening squeak and dashed out of sight faster then one would think was possible for someone so small. A couple of seconds later a chubby blond boy with narrowed blue eyes and clenched fists came around the corner surrounded by 3 equally round boys.

"Where is he!" he demanded the moment he was a few strides away from Diana.

A vein burst inside the pretty girl's head and she turned around to face Dudley and proceeded to hit him with her fists. "How should I know, he ran off the moment he heard your _lackey_ calling you! Seriously D if you _dare _as much as speak to me in the next 24 hours I'll strangle you!" She gave on last hard punch to emphasize her point and then scurried off to find her sister.

"Don't worry D, she'll com around," one of his friends patted him sympathetically on the shoulder.

"Yeah," Dudley said bitterly. "Let's go and find that kid."

There was a murmur of agreement and the kids headed in the opposite direction in which Diana had.

Diana ran as fast as she could up until she intentionally slammed into the back of an identical girl with dark hair and vivid green eyes.

"Hey! What happened, did big D ruin another one of your dates?"

"I hate him," Diana swore vehemently.

The ember eyed girl burst into fits of laughter. "I know, I know, I would too. But he means well."

That burst another vein in the red haired girl's head. "Mean's well! MEANS WELL! SO NOW RUINING MY LIFE MEANS WELL TO YOU HA!!!"

"No, wait, I didn't mean that!" Heidi tried to pacify Diana before the girl went and took out her furry on her.

"I hope you didn't, because if you did…" she glared threateningly at Heidi.

"Anyway, we should head home," Heidi said urgently. "Mom's making cake, remember?"

All traces of anger seemed to vanished miraculously from the red haired girl's face at the mention of sweets and she quickly agreed. "Yes, yes, let's go home!"

Heidi sighed in relief and started walking towards nr 4 Privet Drive. It wasn't a long walk as the house was close to the playground that the kids of the neighborhood usually hang around, just a few strides down the road, a left turn and the third house across the street was where the Dursley's lived.

It was a neat and tidy house, with a perfectly mowed lawn and a beautiful flower bead. The interior was just as sparkling clean and the smell of fresh baked sweets was poring from the kitchen.

"Hi mom," Diana waltzed into the kitchen through the back door and kissed Petunia on the cheek.

"Hello muffin." Petunia smiled lovingly at the girl. "Where's your sister?"

"Right here," Heidi came into view and kissed her mother. "Hi mom, need any help?"

"Oh, that would be lovely dear. Can you set the table for me?"

"Sure!" Heidi made her way to the drawer and pulled out 5 plates.

"Watcher making?" Diana asked while bending her nose low to sniff the sweet aroma of her mothers cooking.

"Roast chicken with lemon and rosemary roast potatoes."

"No sweets?" Diana asked disappointed.

"Remember what we talked about pumpkin, no sweets until tomorrow! You'll have plenty to eat at Dudley's birthday."

"Ah, not even a bonbon?"

"Absolutely not! I can't risk it with you kids anymore, the last time you ended up feeling sick for days, and god knows you kids need to lay of those sweets. Now why don't you help me take these dishes to the table your dad will be home soon?" Petunia handed Diana a plate with salad and another with fried sausages, then proceeded to take out the roast chicken.

"You know she's right," scolded Heidi, a wide grin spread on her cute face. "You need to lay off the sweets."

"Traitor!" Diana stuck out her tongue.

Just then Dudley entered through the back door looking positively exhausted.

"Dudders, what happened to you?" Petunia asked concerned.

"I couldn't catch somebody." Diana smirked cheekily at him. "But I will eventually!" Dudley promised and Diana sent him a death-glare.

Petunia, sensing the beginning of another on of the infamous shouting matches between the two kids, quickly tried to change the subject. "Where would you like to go for your birthday Duddikins?"

The mood instantly brightened as Dudley said: "The zoo!" He looked questionably at Diana and Heidi.

While Heidi nodded her consent, Diana whined saying "We've already been at the zoo trice! It's not gonna get any interesting now. Let's go swimming!"

"I can't swim!" Dudley whined.

"I'll teach you," Diana said and put on the puppy-dog-face that no member in the family had ever been known to refuse.

"Alright," Dudley gave in. "But you'd better keep your word!"

"Of course I will!"

The sound of a car coming to a halt in front of the house could be heard and Diana gave a squeak of delight and bounced toward the door. "Daddy's home!" She knocked head firs into Vernon's round form and hugged him as much as her short hands would allow her.

"Oh, hello there prince, I see you are as energetic as ever." Vernon patted her on the head and picked her up in his arms.

"I talked to Dudley, and we both agreed to go swimming tomorrow!"

"You don't say," Vernon entered the kitchen and put Diana down on the first free chair he could find. "Good evening family," he greeted. "Mmm, roast chicken, my favorite."

"But no sweets!" Diana pouted and everybody except Dudley laughed.

"You really should lay off princess," Vernon commented lazily and began digging in his food.

"Dad!" Diana started to complain but Petunia cut her off.

"Eat your dinner muffin before it gets cold. You'll get plenty of sweets tomorrow."

The next day the Dursley family woke quite early because Vernon wanted to teach the kids how to fish.

The kids were ready to go in less then 30 minutes and the Dursley's were on their way towards a one way trip of fun an relaxation, the post hadn't even arrived yet.

The fishing trip proved to be quite difficult for the family however, because Diana couldn't stand to see the cruel way in which the poor worms were treated and so they had to cut it short and head to the beach.

The rest of the day was as normal a day as could ever be; nothing unusual happened to forewarn the Dursleys that this day precisely could be any different then any other.

But, as they returned home tired and sleepy, with Diana and Dudley bickering about some random boy they had met, Heidi and Petunia debating what to cook for tomorrow morning; it was then, after he opened the front door of his normal house and searching through his normal mail, that he saw them: 2 abnormal letters written in green ink with a green sigil that was shaped like a badger, a serpent, a lion and an eagle surrounding the letter H…


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: The Transfiguration's Teacher**

Vernon, looking paler then a zombie, sent the kids a pointed look and motioned Petunia to follow him into the kitchen.

Petunia scurried the kids upstairs and followed her husband.

"What's the matter Vernon?" she asked concerned.

Vernon, who was too angry to reply handed her the letters.

As per expected Petunia looked nothing next to pleased at seeing them. She started tearing the letters into tiny bits and pieces, turned on the oven and tossed them into the fire.

"We shell not say a word to the girls about this," she said sharply.

Vernon nodded mutely, but furrowed his brows. They both had known this day would come the moment they had taken the girls in, that didn't mean they were glad it did mind you, not in the least; but they mutely decided to ignore it, maybe it would leave them alone, and they'd forget, preferably soon, about this whole ordeal.

-----

The next morning Petunia and Heidi got up at 7:30, as usual and began making breakfast for the still sleeping members of the family.

"So mom, what got dad so upset last night?" Heidi asked while pulling some eggs out of the fridge.

Petunia stiffened and tried to answer as casually as she could. "Oh, you know your father; when he sees bills, he's never in a good mood."

"Why, are we having trouble with money?"

"No, nothing of that sort. So, have you thought which secondary school you want to attend?" Petunia said trying to change the subject.

Heidi looked curiously at her, but decided to drop it. If her mother didn't want to talk about it then she wouldn't pressure her. "Am, I was thinking that we could go to the one that's in town. You know since I don't really want to go that far away from home. But Diana insists that we go some place else."

"Oh, like _that's_ a surprise." Petunia shuck her head. "I still don't understand why, when Dudders is going to Smelting."

"Don't know. Maybe she's afraid that dad will take his place. You know how obsessed she is with boys."

"A bit more then she aught to."

Heidi nodded. "I know. Ok mom, I'm done here. I'll go and check the mail."

"No!" Petunia shrieked startling herself and Heidi. "I mean…I'll go and check the mail. Why don't you set the table?"

Heidi looked concerned at her mother but nodded shortly. "Ok," she said and went towards the drawer.

Petunia scurried out of the kitchen and rushed towards the front door cursing under her breath. She didn't know what had gotten into her but she had a feeling that those…_people_ who were sending those letters weren't going to give up on the first try. And she was right! There on the floor next to a letter that had Marge's scribble all over it were two identical letters to the ones she had seen yesterday. She quickly snuffed the letters in her pocket and briskly returned to the kitchen handing Heidi Marge's letter.

"Your aunt wrote to you."

Heidi immediately noticed something was off with her mother but decided to leave it be for now. However, if she still acted strange she'd confront her.

A good 30 minutes later the rest of the family began piling in the kitchen and stood down for a quick meal. Then the kids rushed outside to join their friends, apparently one of the other kids' mom wanted to take them out for the day.

As soon as the kids left, Petunia showed Vernon the letters.

"We ignore it!" Vernon said firmly. "It will go away if we do!"

However a few days later, a few suspicious looks from the kids and a good deal of frights and races to get the mail and jumping at the slightest of moves and distrustful glares at the neighbors, the letters were still coming. Worse so, they were multiplying by the day and Vernon soon found out that he could not conceal them anymore, especially after the letters had burst out of their chimney and assaulted the whole house.

That very day Vernon had ushered his family into the car, looking positively murderous so no one complained and drove them of into the middle of nowhere, where he had rented a dilapidated house on a small island and a boat to get them across.

The house was quite small and messy with just two rooms, a bed and a sofa. Lucky for them Petunia had packed sleeping bags or they wouldn't have made it through the night.

"Do you think dad lost it?" Dudley asked once the adults had gone into the other room.

"Certainly looks like it," Diana agreed.

"Maybe someone's after us," Heidi suggested.

"Like who?" Dudley asked.

"I don't know, the mafia?"

"Or maybe dad's got a mistress and she threatened to come and tell mom," Diana supplied.

Both Dudley and Heidi rolled their eyes. "Why douse everything about you have to concern boys?" Dudley asked.

"Because that's the best thing about life! Making a boyfriend, going out with _boy_-friends and-"

"Ok! Sorry I asked!" Dudley snapped. "I'm still not gonna let you date!" He warned and Diana proceeded to glare at him.

"Who asked your permission?"

"I'm your brother, and I have to take care of you!" He stated firmly.

"Hey guys, did you here something?" Heidi interrupted their argument.

BOOM!

The whole shack shivered and the kids sat bolt upright, staring at the door. Someone was outside.

BOOM!

They knocked again. Vernon came skidding into the room; a rifle was safely secured in his hand.

"Who's there? I warn you, I'm armed!"

The kids were looking terrified between the door and their father.

"Looks like it is the mafia," Dudley said in a week voice.

BOOM!

Petunia came running into the room and motioned for the kids to go into the next. They did so with little to no complain.

SMASH!

The door flew off its hinges and hit the floor with a deafening crash just as Petunia closed the door behind the kids.

A giant of a man was standing in the doorway. His face was almost completely hidden by a long, shaggy mane of hair and a wild, tangled beard, but you could make out his eyes, glinting like black beetles under all the hair.

Vernon narrowed his eyes dangerously and pointed his rifle at the man, only then did he feel comfortable enough to ask, "Who are you?"

The giant man squeezed into the hut and lifted the door back in its rightful place before turning to look at the Dursleys.

"Couldn't make us a cup o' tea, could yeh? It's not been an easy journey…" He looked around the room and asked, "Where's 'Eidi and Diana?"

The kids who had been eavesdropping in the next room turned to look confused at each other. It seemed that the stranger somehow knew about the girls.

"That's none of your business!" Vernon said with a lot more courage then he actually felt. "I demand that you leave at once, sir! You are breaking and entering!"

"Ah, shut up, Dursley, yeh great prune," said the giant; he reached for the rifle in Vernon's hand and bend it into a knot.

Vernon made a funny squeaking noise, and that was just about as much Diana could stand. She threw the door open and stepped out to give that rude stranger a piece of her mind.

"WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU ARE TO TALK TO MY FATHER THAT WAY!" She rounded on the stranger, eyes burning like the roaring fire.

Vernon and the stranger looked at her in utter shock. Then the stranger seemed to recognize her and said kindly, "Diana its good ter see yeh."

Diana, however, was definitely not pacified with his kind words. "Don't you _dare_ take that cheery tone with me mister! Not after what you said to my father! And especially not after causing such a racket IN THE MIDDLE OF THE BLOODY NIGHT! How _dare_ you come into my home and threaten my father! And now _what?_ Are you expecting me to welcome you with open arms?! Well think again because I don't want to see you again unless you straighten up those rusty manners of yours mister, OUT!" She pointed towards the door.

The stranger, who had been staring open mouthed at her throughout the whole speech finally snapped out of his daze. "Now wait just a secon' there young little missy, I'm here ter-"

"I don't CARE! GET OUT! RIGHT NOW!" Diana bellowed and with much more strength then one thought was possible for such a small child she pushed the giant towards the door, kicked him outside and slammed the door shut behind her breathing erratically, her face red as a tomato and contorted into a glare of fury.

"The _nerve_ of some people!" She said acidly and then took a deep breath in an attempt to calm herself.

The stranger stood outside the cabin, wondering what just happened, before he turned on his heals, a pained expression crossing his gigantic face, and left.

------

One week later found the Dursley family back at Nr. 4 Privet Drive enjoying a quiet afternoon. Petunia and Heidi were making lunch in the kitchen, Dudley and Diana were outside arguing about some boy or another and Vernon was sitting in the living room watching the news and smiling like mad.

_The letters had stopped coming!_

When they had returned home, the first day Petunia and Vernon were still jumpy and careful to be the first to get the mail, or to answer the door and they didn't let the kids venture too far away from home. But when there had been no sign of anything for 3 whole days, Vernon and Petunia had visibly relaxed, and life at the Dursleys had shortly regained its usual routine. And Vernon was grateful for it, because he knew that if the girls really wanted to go to that… _place _he wouldn't complain, he just felt safer knowing that the girls were in _his world_, not in some lunatic place where God only knows what could happen.

A month passed without incident, the Dursley family had completely forgotten about the whole ordeal and were happily planning out the twins' birthday party.

"So, where are we going?" Dudley asked eagerly.

"Dad, I was thinking about staying home this time and throwing a party!" Diana said excited.

"That sounds like a splendid idea pumpkin," Vernon agreed.

"But no boys allowed," Dudley said.

Vernon nodded his consent.

"Hey! It's my party! So I can dang right invite whoever I want!" Diana said vexed.

"No, pumpkin, I'm not letting boys into my house!" Vernon stated firmly.

"DAD!"

"How bout a trip?" Asked Heidi.

"Oh, a trip ha? Like _that's_ gonna be any fun!" Diana replied sarcastically. "We've been everywhere!"

"We haven't been to the new amusement park in London," Heidi said in a sing song voice.

Dudley and Diana's eyes brighten up at the idea and they nodded fervently.

"Yeah dead, that sounds like a good place to go," Diana conceded.

"Mm hmm, and I heard they have this immense roller coaster ride and mirrors that make you fat or slim," Dudley chanted enthusiastically.

"Then it's settled!" Said Vernon. "We're going to London tomorrow!" The family gave an approving cheer and the kids' rand up to their room to prepare for the day ahead.

The three kids couldn't as much as close and eye that night and kept bouncing around from one room to another and strategically planning which rides to take first.

Dudley insisted they don't eat the next morning and ride the Roller Coaster on an empty stomach while Diana protested saying that she wouldn't be able to scream much if she was starving. They ended up betting on whoever got sick after the ride.

The next morning Dudley reframed from eating anything with little conceived effort (he had ran up to the car and barricaded himself in agitatedly waiting for the others to finish eating and trying to ignore his raging stomach).

Vernon, Petunia and Heidi tried to eat as fast as they could in order to not keep Dudley waiting too long, while Diana was doing exactly the opposite, quite enjoying Dudley's suffering. However one pointed look from her mother had her gulping the rest of her food in one mouth and running towards the car.

"Sorry for the wait D," she said grinning.

Dudley gave her a skeptic look but reframed from commenting.

The Dursley's were soon off towards London the long hour drive spent on the usual conversations of boys, food (much to Dudley's chagrin), drills, politics and of course the neighbor's new car.

They finally reached their destination and Dudley (eager to get something in his belly), yanked the car door open and started racing Diana towards the Roller Coaster Ride. Petunia scurried after the two while Vernon searched for a parking place. Heidi sighed looking miserably at the monstrous ride, thinking that she wasn't gonna like this at all.

How wrong she was.

It was the most magnificent feeling she had ever experienced. The train was going so fast, the wind blowing viciously into her face, watering her eyes, her breath caught in her throat and her heart racing erratically. The adrenaline rushed through her like mad with every decent the roller coaster took; an indescribable feeling of freedom overtook her every time it would ascend towards the aquamarine sky. There was however one downfall: the restrains of the carriage that were holding her in place. She just wanted to jump of and fly freely towards the ever blue sky and something in her heart told her she could, something within her told her that was where she wanted to be, in the sky, flying freely.

And suddenly the scenery changed.

She was looking at the same blue and ever-expanding sky the feel of freedom surrounding her as she noticed that the restraints were good. She was unbound, floating in the air on her own, free to wander of wherever she wanted, how high she wanted.

_Higher!_ Her brain kept repeating over and over like a mantra of concentration. _Higher! I want to go, HIGHER!_

"Heidi, that's a little to high sweaty," a familiar voice suddenly resounded from below. "Mommy's going to chop daddy's head off if you fall."

She couldn't place a face to the voice, though she knew she had heard it somewhere before. She tried turning towards the voice but found that she couldn't. She was back in the restraints of the carriage, bound to stay put in one place. Her heart shrank and her enthusiasm diminished as the Roller Coaster came to a sudden stop.

Dudley and Diana rushed out of the carousel and threw up on the sideway.

"Ew, gross," Heidi wrinkled her nose in disgust.

"I…never…want to…ride…that…_thing_…again!" Dudley managed to say between pants. "_It's scary_," he added in a quivering voice.

"I completely agree," Diana conceded. "I'd much rather keep my feet safe on the ground."

Petunia started fussing over the two and promised them to go to much safer rides the next time.

"Did you enjoy yourself pumpkin?" Vernon asked Heidi.

"Yes," Heidi nodded eagerly.

"Well then how bout we go there next:" he pointed towards the Ferris wheel.

"_Nooo,_ I don't think Dudley and Diana would like that," Heidi said slightly disappointed.

"We're not taking them," Vernon winked.

Heidi's face immediately brightened up with a childish excitement that Vernon hadn't seen in the girl since she was in kindergarten.

"Petunia will take care of Dudders and Lilikins," Vernon assured. "So let's go and have some fun. To tell you the truth, I'm also a fan of high places." Vernon whispered conspirator a huge grin spreading on his plump face.

"Then what are we waiting for?"

The rest of the day passed by without further incident. Vernon and Heidi went on the Swings ride, the Frisbee ride, the Drop tower ride and took one more turn on the Roller Coaster before rejoining the others.

Petunia took Diana and Dudley to the restaurant, then they headed towards the House of mirrors, then to the Horror House, then they had lunch, then they continued their scanning of non-dangerous rides like the Log flume, the Observation tower, the Ridable miniature railway then they met up with Vernon and Heidi and finished the day with the Teacups ride.

All in all, it was the most exciting trip they had ever had thus far. The kids were exhausted and already dozing off in the back seat while Vernon and Petunia were merrily chatting in the driver's seat.

"You should have seen her Petunia," Vernon was saying. "She was smiling like a 7 year old again!"

"Well, you'll be looking after Dudders and Linsy next time, and_ I'll_ go with Rosy!" Petunia said sniffing slightly. Seeing Heidi excited over anything was a rare gift these days. She was the most mature of the children and always took everything with such seriosity; cooking, washing her clothes, helping Petunia around the house no time for entertainment, so the two adults were overjoyed in those rare moments when she actually acted her age.

Vernon pulled the car in the driveway at nr 4 Privet Drive. The kids slowly got out of the car and headed for the kitchen were Petunia set the diner table. They took a few bits and were about to turn in for the night when the door bell rang announcing the family that they had a visitor.

"I'll get it," said Vernon merrily moving towards the door.

The door opened but an inch, enough so that Vernon could get a glimpse of who it was and then closed back with a BANG!

"Dad, what is it?" Asked Dudley concerned.

The kids were looking strangely at their father who was sitting protectively in front of the door as if trying to keep something foul out of the house. Petunia came rushing into the room and after taking one look at Vernon began dragging the kids off to bead.

"Come on children, it's time for bed!"

The kids however weren't easily fooled.

"Mom! Dad! Is that the stranger from before?" Diana asked in a sharp voice. Her parent had refused to talk about the enormous man who had visited them a few weeks ago, and that had angered her to no end, especially since the stranger seemed to know her and her sister somehow. She had however given up on the matter because it seemed to be a delicate subject for her parents, but if that unmannered man was back to disturbed them again…

"Dad, mind stepping aside for a moment," Diana came up to her father an tried to push him out of the door's way but Vernon wouldn't budge.

"Princess, it's getting late and you need your beauty sleep," Vernon tried to convince her to leave the matter but Diana was a stubborn one, and he unfortunately knew that.

"I won't be able to have my beauty sleep if the door bell rings all night," Diana said a little more forcefully.

"Lils, do you see anyone?" Dudley asked from the stairway, Petunia was futilely trying to push the other two off to bed.

RING! RING!

The door bell rang again.

"See! How am I going to sleep with that noise?" Diana asked vexed.

"Mr. Dursley," a sharp voice from the other side of the door said. "I am terribly sorry to disturber you at this hour, however there is something of extreme importance that I must discuss with you!"

Diana stopped in her struggle and for a moment Vernon allowed himself to relax and tried to tell whoever that was that he/she was _not_ welcomed, but Diana chose that very moment to push her father out of the way and yanked the door opened.

Heidi and Dudley rushed pass Petunia to see who was the stranger at the door.

A tall, black-haired woman in emerald-green robes stood there. She had a very stern face and everyone's first thought was that this was not someone to cross.

The stern looking woman closely inspected every member of the house then she curtly asked. "May I come in?"

"Of course," Diana said.

"Certainly not!" Vernon bellowed.

The woman raised a delicate brow and Diana sent her father a pointed glare. She pulled the door further apart and motioned for the woman to step in.

"This way, please," Heidi guided the woman into the living room and motioned for her to take a seat.

Vernon and Petunia were looking murderous but wisely reframed from saying anything. With a bit of luck Diana would have another temper tantrum and throw the woman out without finding out anything, after all there was no way any of these…_people_ could be remotely civil.

The strange woman seated herself on an armchair while Diana and Dudley sat on the couch; Vernon and Petunia were sitting in the doorway watching the visitor like hawks. Heidi came up to the woman and inquired.

"Would you like anything to drink?"

"A cup of tea would be much appreciated," the woman answered. Heidi nodded and made her way into the kitchen.

"Who are you?" Dudley asked suspicious.

"My name is Minerva McGonagall, Deputy Headmistress at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry," the woman said.

For a long moment the kids just stood staring at her.

_She's crazy,_ Dudley was thinking.

_Did she say school...for wizards?_ Diana was pondering.

Vernon and Petunia had grown rigid in the door way. The nasty woman had said the forbidden word! Vernon was panicking on the inside. What to do? Throw the woman out, or wait till Diana has a fit and douse it herself, and by the look of her disbelieved expression she wasn't far from one. Yes, it was better if Diana threw them out, maybe the freaks would understand this time. Or wait till Heidi throws her out! Vernon concluded. Heidi was a realistic person; it would be hard to convince someone like her that freakish stuff existed.

Heidi returned to the living room, a cup of tea in her had which she gently handed the woman.

"So," she broke the silence. "You say you're from Hogwarts?"

"Yes, I am a teacher there," the woman answered while sipping on her tea.

"So it's a school?" Dudley asked puzzled. At this McGonagall looked up in surprise.

"You don't know about Hogwarts?" She asked failing to hide the shock that enveloped her face.

"Never heard of it," was the short reply she received.

"But, but, surely you must know what you are?" The woman tried again. Vernon (if it was possible), stiffened further and Petunia held her breath.

"What we are?" Heidi asked confused.

Petunia made a move towards the room but Vernon grabbed her hand and shocks his head. Petunia stared disbelievingly at him. Was he actually going to let that freak of a woman tell her girls about…_that_?

"Why, you're witches!" McGonagall stated.

Heidi raised a disbelieved brow, Diana had a shocked expression carved on her face, Dudley was looking at the woman as if she'd grown another head and Petunia nearly fainted.

"We're what?" Heidi asked again, sarcasm clear in her voice.

"Witches, people who can do magic, just like your parents."

Vernon was furious. He had not anticipated that the freak would bring up the girls parents so soon, which would raise many unwanted questions even if the woman would be thrown out. The kids not knowing any better turned to look questionably at Petunia and Vernon.

"You can do magic?" Asked Heidi in a ton that clearly said she doubted it.

"Not them," McGonagall said. "Your parents, James and Lily Potter!"

"Enough!" Vernon bellowed. "You, madam, are not going to fill my children's brain with such nonsense! I demand that you leave at once!"

"I am sorry to inform you," said the stern witch. "That I shelln't be leaving without the girl's signed premising or disagreement of attending Hogwarts!"

"Excuse me," Diana interrupted. "Who are James and Lily?"

If possible McGonagall looked even shocked the before. "You don't know anything, about _anything_?" She asked disbelievingly. She turned towards the Dursleys. "I believe Dumbledore left you instructions on-"

"Don't you _dare_-" shrieked Petunia. "-remind me of that man, because I will throw you out myself!" Vernon was desperately trying to shush his wife up but there was no stopping her. "The nerve of that man to dump the news that _my sister _dyed because of your people and then tell me that I should let _my girls_ go back to the very place is preposterous. I want you out of my house this instant!" She screamed and pushed pass Vernon towards the woman, but Heidi stepped in her way.

When she saw the rage and hurt in the girls eyes Petunia realized exactly what she had done.

"I thought it strange you know," Heidi said in a deceivingly quiet voice. "When you once let it slip that we were born in July 31, 1980, barely one month after Dudley, and when I asked you about it, you said that you got the dates mixed up."

"Rosy I-" Petunia struggled to find the word to explain herself but she couldn't, a notch was forming in her throat and her breathing became swollen.

"I asked you and you lied to me," Heidi said in a disbelieved voice as if she had just realized it herself. "You're not my mother…" She spoke in a numb voice gazing up into Petunias tear strained face.

Diana finally snapped out of her trance at the words and rose from her seat beside Dudley who seemed to be still in shock.

"Is that true?" She asked her mother. "Are you really not my mother?"

Petunia couldn't bring herself to speak so Vernon tried to pacify the girls. "We're your aunt and uncle," he said in a whisper.

"And Lily and James?" Asked Heidi.

"Lily was my sister," Petunia seemed to have regained her voice. "And they killed her!" She pointed towards Minerva.

"That's a lie!" Minerva said acidly.

"Is it?" Petunia said in a mock voice. "Then you deny that someone from your world killed my sister and her husband?"

"That, I don't deny," said McGonagall in a regretful tone. "What I don't approve is you blaming us all for that tragic incident. We did our best to try and protect them-"

"Well your best wasn't enough!" Petunia cut her off. "And you didn't even have the dignity of coming and informing me yourselves, no! You left the girls at my door step with a stupid letter as the only explanation and now you're expecting to just barge in here and take my girls away from me! Well, no ma'am! I swore that I would protect these girls from the likes of you and I will!"

McGonagall was regarding Petunia in utter shock. When she had visited the house ten years ago she had thought that the girls would have a hard time growing up here, but apparently, the Dursleys actually cared about them.

"You didn't have to lie," Heidi's quiet reply snapped everyone's attention to her. "You could have just told us, or what did you think we weren't going to love you anymore?" She asked hurt.

"No, no, Rosy, I was just…confused and scared. I didn't know what to do. I thought you would try to go back to that place where Lily…" Petunia tried to explain but words failed her.

The silence that followed seemed to stretch on forever. The girls had identical masks of numb concentration on their faces. Dudley, Vernon and Minerva were rotten to the spot. Petunia was still struggling to find the words to explain to her girls why she hadn't trusted them when it hit her… she hadn't trusted them. An expression of deep shame crossed her face and she lowered her eyes to the ground. _She hadn't trusted them…_

"Get out," Diana said in barely a whisper but it still carried throughout the silent room.

"Princess, we were only trying to-" Vernon tried to say but Diana wouldn't have any of it.

"GET OUT!" She bellowed. Something hard and vicious smashed into Vernon and Petunia and the two were violently thrown out of the room by an invisible force, the door slammed shut behind them.

Dudley remained rotten to the spot glaring at the closed door as if in disbelief. Diana and Heidi's expressions were a carved copy of his.

"What the…?" Diana asked.

"That was magic," Minerva supplied.

"So, I'm really a witch," Diana said after some time.

"Where is this school that you mentioned?" Asked Heidi. "I want you to take me to it."

"You will most certainly attend Hogwarts, if that is what you wish, starting from the first of September." McGonagall answered.

"I want to go now," said Diana turning to look at the stern woman. "Take me there!"

"I'm afraid that won't be possible, until the first of September you will be remaining here and-"

Whatever McGonagall was about to say was cut off by Heidi's outburst. "Now listen to me here you! You can't just come into people's house, tell them they're witches, and then leave like nothing happened after such a fight! This is your fault! So you dang well better take responsibility for it!"

"But I can't-"

"I don't CARE what you can and can't do! You're going to take us out of here right now! UNDERSTOOD?"

McGonagall nodded sharply and without another word grabbed a hold of the girls and the three disappeared with a quiet pop.

The door to the living room was yanked open and in stepped Vernon and Petunia.

"Where are the girls?" Petunia asked frantically. "Dudley where are your sisters?" She shuck her only son a bit but he remained motionless on the couch.

"Their gone," Vernon said quietly. "My princesses are gone!"


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3: Diagon Alley**

Minerva apparated the girls right outside the Leaky Cauldron, and rented a room for the two. She quickly made her way to Hogwarts and explained to Dumbledore what had happened at the Dursley's house. Dumbledore nodded sadly and instructed her to baby-sit the girls for a few days, which she would have done regardless, seeing as she actually felt guilty for the distressed situation in which the two had fallen.

The girls stubbornly remained in their room for 4 whole days, sulking, barely eating or moving for the mater. Then on the fifth day Diana finally had enough of the self pitying routine she had adopted and decided to go explore the world outside.

She met Minerva down at the bar and started marveling about the weird sense of fashion the wizards had.

"I hope for God's sakes kids don't dress up like this too," she sniffed scrutinizing a man in a purple dress and a plump woman in an old-fashioned, pink-colored, grandma-suit talking. "Are those really men's clothes?"

"Yes they are," Minerva answered. "But most men do wear pants, and that-" she pointed at the woman in pink, "-is probably the only woman you will see dressed with little to no sense of fashion. Even in the wizarding world we have something called pride."

Diana muffled a giggle with her drink. "This is really good! What is it?"

"Butterbeer," Minerva answered.

"I have _got_ to show this to Heidi and Dud…" she fell silent in mid sentence, a gloomy expression replacing the smile on her face.

"They care for you," Minerva said after some time. "They thought they were protecting you."

"I know," Diana answered half-heartedly. "It's just…they didn't trust me to do what was best, they think I'm too young to make certain decisions."

"Aren't you?" Minerva asked.

"I am! But…they didn't trust me. No matter the reason, it still hurts."

Minerva nodded sadly. "Sometimes, we adults make some very selfish decisions thinking that we're doing our children a favor, but most of the times, we just end up messing things up, even if we have the best intentions at heart. You will learn that when you're older."

"Well, it'll be a _looong_ time before I have kids, and by then I want to be _much_ older and _much more_ smarted then I am right now!"

Minerva chuckled slightly. "Would you like to see Diagon Alley?"

"Why?" Diana asked. "What's so interesting about it?"

"You'll see," Minerva smiled. "Let's try and convince your sister to come with us, you'll love it there."

"No need to worry about my sister," Diana waved a dismissive hand. "She'll come down in half an hour's time. She _hates_ sitting alone when she's depressed."

Surely enough, half an hour later Heidi did come down, albeit a bit reluctant.

"Try this," Diana pushed the bottle of butterbeer towards Heidi. "It's really good!"

Heidi scrutinized the bottle for a few moments then took a sip. "Mmm, it is good!"

"Wanna hear the best part," Diana asked conspirator. "It has only 1% alcohol, so you can drink until you're dead and you'd still be wide awake!"

"Not that much," Minerva scolded.

"What, I'm already on my fifth bottle," Diana pointed at the pile of bottles lying next to her to prove her point. "I'd be dead drunk right now if these were Muggle beers!"

"Muggle?" Heidi asked confused.

"Non magical people," Diana answered flatly. She set her bottle of butterbeer down and turned to look at her sister. "So, wanna go and check out this place?"

"Sure," Heidi took another sip from her butterbeer then rose from her seat. "Why not."

Minerva led the two girls in the back were a huge wall of bricks was piled around the bar separating it from the exterior world. The girls looked confused for a moment but then Minerva tapped a brick in the wall 3 times and an archway opened up before them leading towards a cobbled street that twisted and turned out of sight.

The girls stared open mouthed at the place. You couldn't really say it was packed, but there were a good number of people walking down the streets.

"This is amazing," Diana said in aw.

"Like magic?" Minerva asked amused. Diana turned to scowl at her.

"Not what I had in mind, but it will do."

"Is there a library around here?" Heidi asked excited.

"There is a book shop, but I think we aught to go to Gringotts first, since it's clear you're not leaving empty handed." Minerva started walking down the street and the girls hurried after her trying to spin their heads in every direction so they could get a glimpse of everything.

"Gringotts?" Heidi asked.

"It's the wizarding bank."

"So what are _we_ doing in Gringotts?"

"Why, you didn't think that James and Lily would leave you nothing now would you?"

"We wouldn't know," said Heidi swiftly.

"Oh, well they did," Minerva said, "And quite a lot."

They stopped in front of an immense white building that was towering over the rest. A goblin, dressed in some sort of military suit, was guarding the entrance door, he bowed when they walked passed him. Now they were facing another set of double doors guarded by two goblins. When they were near enough the girls could make up a few lines written on the doors:

_Enter, stranger, but take heed_

_Of what awaits the sin of greed,_

_For those who take, but do not earn,_

_Must pay most dearly in their turn._

_So if you seek beneath our floors_

_A treasure that was never yours,_

_Thief, you have been warned, beware_

_Of finding more than treasure there._

"They are not joking," Minerva said. "Someone who would try to steal from goblins is either mad or too overconfident for his own sake."

The goblins bowed them through the door where they entered a vast marble hall. About a hundred more goblins were sitting on high stools behind a long counter, scribbling, weighing coins, examining precious stones or talking to customers (which were surprisingly many considering the less populated street outside). There were a bunch of doors leading out of the hall, cramped with goblins leading people in or out. Minerva and the girls made their way towards a counter.

"Good morning," Minerva greeted. "We would like to make a withdrawal from the Potter safe."

"You have the key, Madam?"

Minerva pulled out a gold key from her pocket and handed it to the goblin.

"It seems to be in order," the goblin said after closely inspecting the key. "Griphook!" he called and another goblin appeared who led them through one of the many exits out of the hall and into a narrow stone passageway. It was lit by flaming torches and a miniature version of a rail track was covering the floor.

"A mine?" Diana asked perplexed.

A cart came hurtling towards them and stopped right in front of the goblin. Diana had a horror struck expression on her face and looked ready to pass out any minute.

"We're not using _that_ are we?" she pointed towards the cart.

"Of course we are," the goblin said stiffly. "Up!" he ordered but Diana made no move towards the cart.

"Can't we walk?" She asked hopefully.

"No!"

"Then, can I stay here?" She turned towards Minerva, a pleading look on her face.

"Certainly not," Minerva answered. "Hurry up now, we don't have all day." She pushed Diana into the cart and climbed in herself, the goblin and Heidi followed shortly. The cart took off at neck break speed; Diana enveloped Heidi in a bear hug and buried her head in her twins' shoulders, that's how she remained throughout the whole ride. Minerva was stiff as a stone, a firm expression of indifference carved on her face, the only proof that the journeys discomforted her being the tight grip on the side of the cart. Heidi was in waka-laka land again, with a huge grin on her face, the insane glee in her eyes, she was watching the road like a hawk cheering loudly when they passed a dangerous turn or when the cart seemed to be picking up speed.

Finally after and excruciatingly long journey they were out of the cart. Diana rushed out and threw up, much to the goblin's displeasure. Minerva steadily climbed out and delicately placed a hand on the wall, trying to make it as little as possible remarked that the ride had bothered her. Heidi jumped enthusiastically, scrutinizing the door in front of her. It looked like one of those vault doors that Muggles used at banks, only this was a copper color and clearly hadn't been maintained properly.

The goblin unlocked the door and the girls were stuck glaring at the amount of coins inside.

"Are you people insane," Heidi asked startling the other three, "coins?" She walked inside the vault. "Coins! Not just any coins," she admonished, "gold coins! Why coins? They're easy to lose, they weight more then paper, so why coins?"

"It's the first time I've _ever_ seen someone sorry to be rich," the goblin commented.

"We're not sorry," Diana grinned and rushed inside the vault. "This is magnificent! And it's all mine!" She sniggered mischievously. "I can't wait to spend you! We are allowed to spend it aren't we?"

"Yes, you are," Minerva said but quickly added. "But you have to be careful that you don't spend all your money before your final year at Hogwarts."

"Ah, that's right, how many years are there?" Heidi asked.

"Seven," Minerva answered.

"Seven?!" Diana shrieked. "Do you think this is enough for seven years?!"

"You each have a main vault which you will inherit once you turn seventeen," the goblin said.

"Seventeen? Why seventeen?" Heidi asked.

"That is considered the coming of age in the wizarding world," Minerva answered.

"So," Diana smiled lovingly at Minerva. "Do we have a bag for this?" She patted a mountain of gold coins.

Minerva sighed and pulled out a bag. Diana glared at the tiny pouch.

"What the hell am I supposed to do with this?!"

"That's all I have."

Diana turned towards the goblin. "Is there a shop around here that sells big bags?"

The goblin pulled out a couple of bags if possible tinier then Minerva's.

"I said bigger!"

"They're magically expanded bags," the goblin explained. "Try filling one," he said grinning nastily.

Diana took a few gold coins and stuffed them into the bag expecting to have filled it, but to her surprise the bag was no fuller then it had been a moment ago, she pulled more coins into her bag, then a few more, and then more…it wouldn't fill! She emptied a pile of gold coins, a dozen of silver and a bunch of bronze but it still didn't fill.

"WOW! How much for this?" She asked.

"Five Galleons," the goblin answered.

"Galleons?!"

"The gold coins."

"Oh! Here you go," she handed the goblin 10 galleons and took another bag which she toss to her sister. "You better fill your own bag, because I'm not shearing!"

Heidi sighed but began filling her bag. "How do these work?" She pointed at the mount of coins.

"The gold ones are named Galleons, the silver ones are Sickles and the bronze ones are Knuts. There are Seventeen silver Sickles to a Galleon and twenty-nine Knuts to a Sickle." Heidi nodded and finished filling her bag.

"Wow! It's so light after all that?" She stared in wonder at the tiny bag. "Diana! Leave some for next year will ya!"

"Okay," Diana grunted disappointed, she filled her bag with a few more gold coins and walked out of the vault.

"Good, now that we're finally done here, we can go shopping." Diana brightened up at the concept but her joy was short lived when she realized she would be going back in the cart. She was quick to exit Gringotts when the horrifying ride was over and a few moments later found her cuddling her bag filled with coins to her chest.

"You're crazy, did I ever tell you that," Heidi asked.

"And you're a book worm; did I ever tell you that?"

"You're a scary cat too!"

"Am not!"

"Girls! Stop acting like five year olds" Minerva chastised. "Where do you want to go first?"

"Everywhere!" They both said in unison. Minerva sighed, thinking of the long day ahead and started walking down the street.

They stopped first at _Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions_ because Diana said she couldn't walk the wizarding streets dressed like a Muggle.

Minerva knew that Muggle girls were picky about their clothes, even the young witches of today were like that sometimes, but after spending the next 5 hours in the shop Diana still wanted to try on some other models. In the end each of the girls bought 5 different robes, plus their school robes (Minerva was not going to risk this happening again), and they were finally off, much to Madam Malkin's relief.

They decided on buying the school supplies today so that they could be free to explore the rest of the week. Fist they went into the equipment shop, where Diana bought a number of color changing inks (she was horror struck when she learn that she had to write with a quill, but then she cheered up at the sight of the different colored bottles of ink), Heidi bought a lot more parchment then Minerva thought was necessary and the two finished with a couple of identically shaped quills which could write on their own.

Minerva didn't want to let Diana buy a golden cauldron, saying Snape would reprobate her for showing off.

"Who's Snape?"

"Your Potion's teacher," Minerva stated. "Why do you think you even need cauldrons if not for Potions?"

"I don't know. Cooking maybe?" Diana answered sarcastically.

Judging by the bitterness in Minerva's voice Heidi deduced she didn't like this Snape person a lot.

They settled for a pewter one but Diana bought them both a pair of bouncing telescopes and a nice set of scales. The next stop was the Apothecary, and after finding out what was inside, Heidi forced Diana to wait by the door and made her swear to not come in after them.

"What was that all about?" Minerva asked once they were inside.

"Diana _loves_ animal," Heidi said, "It would _kill her_ to see a place like this."

They quickly ordered two packages of standard Potion ingredients and exited the shop.

While Diana's mussing over robes had been tiring, Heidi's wondering over books was just as much a problem as any. She refused to leave Flourish and Blotts until she scooped the whole place from top to bottom and bought seven extra books and a copy of _Hogwarts a History_. The whole errand took about 3 extra hours and by the end Minerva was dead tired; however there was one more problem that needed to be solved.

"You are not getting a wand so soon!" It wasn't only Diana she had to argue with but Heidi as well.

"Why not?" Diana asked vexed.

"Considering the fact that it _is_ the most important item on our list, I think it's unfair that you wouldn't allow us one!" Heidi stated.

"You can buy your wands on the last day and no sooner!" Minerva said firmly.

"Like hell I will!" Diana bellowed. "I want a wand!"

"You know, you are not entitled to forbid us anything!" Heidi said a bit more forcibly.

In the end Minerva gave in since they were already attracting to much unwanted attention and Dumbledore had said she should keep the girls out of the spot light for now.

"Alright," she conceded, after all, how harmful could it be? The girls gave a squeak of delight then followed Minerva down the road towards Ollivanders.

It wasn't as impressive as the girls had thought it would be, in fact Diana was damn right disappointed by its small size and Heidi looked disgusted at seeing something so dirty. But the joy of finally getting a wand won over their overall impression of the place and they walked in. A bell rang announcing the shop keeper that he had customers but the girls saw no one in sight. Mountains of boxes were pilled up to the ceiling, each one of them dirtier then the other; Heidi would never let these _germs_ into the house.

"Good afternoon," a soft voice spoke from somewhere to the right. The girls jumped but Minerva staid firmly on her feet. The twins both deemed the man as some sort of vampire specimen after laying their eyes on him. He was paler then death, with intense moon colored eyes that seemed to pierce right through your very being and the monochromatic suit he was wearing did nothing to improve his gloomy output.

"Hi," Diana said weekly.

"Hello," Heidi saluted politely.

"Ah yes," said the man. "Yes, yes. I thought I'd be seeing you two soon. The Potter twins. You look just like Lily, and yet you're so different, quite a curious pair of twins you are." He scrutinized the two with his silvery eyes. "It seems only yesterday she was in here herself, buying her first wand. Ten and a quarter inches long, swishy, made of willow. Nice wand for charm work. Your father, on the other hand, favored a mahogany wand. Eleven inches. Pliable. A little more power and excellent for transfiguration. Well, I say your father favored it — it's really the wand that chooses the wizard, of course." While Diana was looking amazed at the discovery, Heidi had an expression on her face that clearly stated she didn't believe a wand could choose as much as a coin let alone a person.

Ollivander began inspecting the strands of hair that were hiding the identically shaped lightning both scars from view. "I'm sorry to say I sold the wand that did it," he said softly. "Thirteen-and-a-half inches. Yew. Powerful wand, very powerful, and in the wrong hands… well, if I'd known what that wand was going out into the world to do…"

The girls didn't quite understand what he meant but didn't have the chance to ask him as Ollivander turned to talk to Minerva.

"Did it?" Diana asked. "Did what?"

"I have absolutely no idea," Heidi shock her head.

"Excuse me," Diana interrupted the two adult's talk. "When can I get my wand?"

"Oh, of course," Ollivander waved his hand and a tape measurer appeared out of thin air. "I am terribly sorry for keeping you waiting. Which is your wand arm?"

The girls shared a confused look and said "right," uncertainly.

"Hold up your arm." The tape began taking some of the craziest measures the twins had ever seen and Ollivander began blabbing about his wands and searching trough the pile of dirty boxes.

"That will do," he said and the tape measurer fell silently to the ground. He came back with two wands in his hand. "Try this one. Beechwood and dragon heartstring. Nine inches. Nice and flexible." He gave the wand to Heidi. "And you this one. Maple and phoenix feather. Seven inches. Quite whippy. Just take them and give them a wave." But the wands were snatched out of their hands before they could do so, next he tries switching the two around (that clearly didn't work), and so they kept trying wand after wand, switching wands and so on until they must have tried about half the wands in the shop. Ollivander if anything looked happy with every wand that proved to be wrong which unnerved the girls; after so many tries, you would be a fool not to lose your fait a bit.

"Tricky customers, eh? Not to worry, we'll find the perfect match here somewhere," Ollivander kept assuring, but the twins were beginning to doubt there was a wand for them somewhere in that shop.

"I wonder, now" Ollivander suddenly said pulling out a long box from somewhere in the back that looked less dirty then the rest. "Yes, why not — unusual combination — holly and phoenix feather, eleven inches, nice and supple." He handed the wand to Heidi who took a swing but nothing happened. Ollivander looked puzzled for a moment. Heidi passed the wand to Diana and suddenly red and gold sparks flew from the tip of the wand. Ollivander cheered. "Yes, that's it!" He clapped, Minerva sighed in relief after she saw that at least one of the two was out of the way. "Well, well, well… how curious… how very curious…" Ollivander mussed under his breath as he began searching the boxes of remaining wands.

"Excuse me," said Diana, "but what's curious?"

Mr. Ollivander came back with a new pair of wands for Heidi and said. "I remember every wand I've ever sold, Miss Potter. Every single wand. It so happens that the phoenix whose tail feather is in your wand, gave another feather — just one other. It is very curious indeed that you should be destined for this wand when its brother — why, its brother gave you that scar."

Diana automatically reached towards her covered up scar, a surprised expression on her face. Petunia had told her they had a cat when they were small, and that the cat had somehow dropped the iron on their faces. Of course Heidi had been reluctant to believe it, but Diana found no reason to not trust her mother, up until now. Minerva regarded the pensive looks the girls were having worriedly. She knew a good questioning round was awaiting her once they exited the shop.

"This is the last one," Ollivander said bitterly. "If this doesn't work," he shocked his head sadly.

Heidi looked scared at the wand in front of her. With trembling fingers she reached out and took it, but noting happened. Minerva and Diana looked in shock at her.

Ollivander sighed. "I am sorry, this has never happened to me before. Never in my life has it occurred that I won't be able to…" Ollivander had stopped talking and was looking at something in the far left corner. The others followed his gaze straight towards the wand that was on display lying neatly on the dusty old purple pillow.

"Unless," said Ollivander, the spark returning in his eyes. "Unless it was eliminated from the start!" He strolled over to the wand and ravenously picked it up. "This wand," he said emotionally, "was made in 217 A.C., exactly 600 years after the shop had opened; buy the greatest wand maker in history: Marcus Olivander. 10¾" Chestnut the only wand with a Basilisk Venom core. Powerful and one of a kind. However it has never found an owner. It has been passed down from generation to generation and never in all of these years had it found and owner." Olivander approached cautiously, the wand ravenously held in his hand and slowly handed it to Heidi.

Heidi looked awestruck at the brilliant-white piece of wood. There was and eerie feel about it, mashed together with and overwhelming sense of power. She could smell it, feel it intoxicating the air around as she slowly reaches out for the wand that she now certainly knew belong to her and her alone. She barely brushed her finger against the smooth material when a jet of pure light and vivid green sparks flew out of its tips. A breathtaking amount of energy flooded her veins and she felt her hand burn with its flow, eagerly awaiting her every command. She picked it up and affectionately turned it over towards the light. Although she could feel her hand heavy with magic she couldn't see anything.

Olivander slowly closed his eyes as if in resignation, but a wide smile was spread on his pale face. "I can't believe it was me, who got to sell such beauty," he sniffed heartbreakingly.

"It's a magnificent wand," Heidi said never taking her eyes off it.

"It is indeed," Olivander agreed. "And I am glad it has found its owner. Would you like me to wrap it up for you?"

"No," Heidi said finally looking away from the wand. "It's fine like this. How much?"

"Seven Galleons each."

The girls paid and exited the shop, exhausted after such a long day.

"Man that was a relief, I thought you might not be able to get a wand," Diana commented.

"Me too," Heidi nodded.

"Heidi, Diana," Minerva called the girls. "I would like to hold on to those wands until it is time for you to go to Hogwarts."

"What? But we barely got them!" Diana protested.

"And as underage children you're not allowed to do magic outside of school!" Minerva said firmly. "Now hand them over!"

Heidi didn't know what kept her from protesting, she wanted to keep her wand as well, but she walked calmly towards Minerva and handed her the wand. The moment Heidi's fingers left the wand its weight grew immensely and viciously pulled Minerva towards the ground nearly cutting her finger off, luckily for her Heidi reached out just in time to prevent it. She easily lifted the wand off of Minerva's crushed hand.

"Are you okay professor?" Heidi asked concerned.

"Yes," Minerva answered in a week voice. She glared furiously at the white piece of wood, which was lying innocently in Heidi's hand. She could feel the power poring out of it and naturally wanted to bring it to Dumbledore, but it seemed the wand had other things in mind.

"We should take you to a hospital," Diana said snaking Minerva out of her daze.

"No, that's quite fine." She gingerly picked her hand of the floor and pulled it to her chest. "I believe you can find the way back to the Leaky Cauldron on your own right?"

"Of course," they nodded.

"Good, then I'll see you in the morning." Minerva lifted herself up, spun on the spot and disappeared with a silent pop.

"How did…?" Diana asked perplexed.

"Come on," Heidi grabbed her hand. "Let's get back to the hotel and read these books." Diana groaned loudly but followed her sister.


	4. Chapter 4

AN: Minerva's speech is taken directly from the book, as is Dumbledore's and a Hagrid's.

**Chapter 4: Hogwarts**

Minerva was absent for 3 whole days, a fact that didn't bother the girls as much, now that they had wands and knew which brick to tap. They would spend most of their time wandering Diagon Alley (which seemed to be busier by the day); for Heidi the library was her sanctuary, the shop keeper had taken a liking to her and was letting her help out during the morning, while Diana was usually crashing down at Madam Malkin's, who had agreed to use her as a model for various of her clothes.

"You definitely have the face," she commented earning herself a brilliant smile from Diana.

Heidi has scooped all of their books and forced Diana to read a few as well, she did so with little complain seeing as she too wanted to know as much as she could about the wizarding world, but most of the new things they learned were from the people they encountered in the shops, like for example Quidditch seemed to be the international wizarding sport and the most craziest thing they had heard (something they couldn't stop laughing about no mater how hard they tried), _wizards flew on __brooms_! Imagine the Muggles getting _that_ of all things right?

When Minerva returned that Friday night the girls dragged her up to their room, sat her on a chair and said. "Explain!" Heidi pointed towards an article in a book _The Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts_ (which Minerva didn't remember them buying), that read:

_He-who-must-not-be-named also known as Lord Voldemort is considered by many to be the most feared Dark Lord of al times. He was known for…_

Minerva didn't have to read the rest to understand what the girls meant, she two would have wanted to know everything there was if she were mentioned on the same page as you-know-who.

"I've been meaning to tell you sooner but, the opportunity never arrived."

"Well now it did," Diana said sharply. "And you better stop beating around the bush and tell us what happened!"

Minerva gave a resigned sigh and said "10 years ago, this place was a battle zone. You-know-who and his Minions had been reigning havoc in the wizarding community for over two decades, people were living in fear, in hiding, you couldn't even recognize friend or foe, up until one day when it all stopped. On the Halloween night of 1981, no one knows what truly happened, but you-know-who lost his powers after trying to kill the two of you. He killed James and Lily Potter that night, buy you two, he could not kill. And that is as much of the story as anyone who wouldn't flourish it with Merlin know what nonsense would tell you."

"So, we're famous for getting our parents killed?" Heidi asked bitterly. The girls stayed quiet after that, both lost in their own thoughts. Minerva left after half an hour.

"I'll see you two tomorrow," she said but the girls gave no sign of having heard her.

-----

The days passed by and soon the two girls had forgotten all about their discussion with Minerva, or the problems at home and were happily accommodating in the new routine that had become their life. Heidi started _working_ part times for the library which mostly consisted of arranging books or moving them from one place to the other. Diana was quite enjoying her job as Madam Malking's assistant, the woman taught her a useful little charm that helped her fit robes on customers (it took 3 days to learn!), and allowed Diana to help her with the pile of students that were pouring down the front doors like flies. And one day something interesting happened.

It was one of those busy days at Madam Malkin's, sometimes near the end of August, when Diana was incredibly stressed because of all the people that were piling in the shop. She had just finished clothing another first year when a blond boy with a pointed face and gray eyes was led towards her.

"Lils, take care of him for me will you," Madam Malkin said in a tiredly tone and then rushed into the back of the shop.

Diana nodded and turned to smile at the new customer. Her smile widened when she saw what a cute boy he was. "Welcome to Madam Malking's. Hogwarts uniform, right?"

"That's right," the boy answered in a lazy tone, which changed dramatically after he saw her face. "Are you the one who is going to attend me?" he asked curiously. "You don't seem to be that much older."

"I'm not. Would you step this way please?" She guided the boy towards the stool and charmed the measurer to do the work.

"That's quite good spell work for someone so young," the boy commented.

"Thank you, but it did take a bit of work to learn it."

"I'll bet. I know Madam Malkin's doesn't have a daughter so you must either be a pureblood trying to become a designer, and stealing from the best is a good way to start, or a pureblood really obsessed with clothes."

That certainly burst a nerve in Diana's head. She turned to give the boy a cold glare and asked: "Why do you naturally assume I'm a pureblood?"

"Because there is no way that a Mudblood or a half-blood could be that good," the boy said dismissively. Diana had no idea what a Mudblood was but it sounded like a foul word.

"Well aren't you a smart one."

"I certainly think so."

Diana burst out laughing. "A comedian too."

"I'm no comedian," the boy wrinkled his nose. "Draco Malfoy," he flashed a crooked smile. "Now if I may enquire the name of the lovely lady who so talented fitted my clothes?"

Diana giggled slightly and her cheeks flashed crimson. "No," she said tauntingly.

"No?" Draco asked curiously.

"No," Diana came up in front of him and began tying his tie around the neck.

"How about a hint?" Draco persisted.

Diana chewed her lips and said "You'll see at Hogwarts. After all, I'm a first year as well. There, all done! How do you like it?"

Draco turned to look himself in the mirror and after being satisfied with his reflection (his facial reflection mind you, he didn't look at the suit for a second!), turned to smile broadly at Diana and said "Perfect."

Diana lifted and inquisitory brow. "Your face or my suit?"

"Both," Draco answered. "You did a splendid job." He took her hand in his and kissed the tip of her fingers. "I hope to see you at Hogwarts, Milady."

Diana flashed a brilliant smile. "Oh, I'm sure you'll be seeing quite a lot of me."

Draco inclined his head slightly and headed for the stool. He purchased the suit, just as Diana had made it, and exited the shop.

"He was _soooo_ cute," Diana said. "Oh, you should have seen him," she hugged her fluffy white pillow to her chest and crashed on the bead, a dreamy expression on her face.

"Was he blond?" Heidi asked sounding bored. She was currently re-reading chapter 24 of her charms book and working on one of the charms.

"Yep," Diana answered.

"Figures," Heidi said and turned the page with a sight. "This thing's hard!" she wined.

"Oh, will you stop that!" Diana said exasperatedly. "You don't have to learn all of the bloody spells _before_ term starts!"

"I know! It's my wand's fault!" Heidi complained. "Every time I touch it, it's like I'm recharged with energy and I can't sleep unless I get rid of the extra dose, it's really frustrating!" She gave the wand a pointed glare. "You are _evil_!"

Diana burst out laughing. "Oh, this is too much! You're fighting with your _wand_?! I thought you said it doesn't have a mind of its own."

"Well _obviously,_ I was wrong," Heidi admitted although a bit reluctant. "Finally!" Red sparks exploded from the tip of her wand and colored the yellow walls in a pale shade of orange. Heidi dropped her wand on the night drawer and sighed content. "I'm finally out of energy." She giggled happily. "Good night," she whispered and was asleep in a matter of seconds.

"Good night."

------

The first of September had finally arrived and Minerva was pacing like mad in front of Eeylops Owl Emporium; the girls had just realized they didn't have pets, so they decided on buying some right now, much to Minerva's chagrin since it was almost ten o'clock, which meant they had about an hour to get to Kings Cross, pass the barrier and on the train.

Heidi came out carrying a petit spotted owl which was flying madly in the cage.

"This is Ruby," she proudly announced. "Isn't she cute?" She pulled the cage up to her face and looked lovingly at the energetic little bugger.

"Yes, she is," Minerva said stiffly. "Where is Diana?"

"Here!" Diana came rushing out of the shop carrying a beautiful snow white owl which was fast asleep in her cage. "Meet Blanche," she smugly announced.

"Charmed," Minerva said and rushed the girls towards the Leaky Cauldron.

They exited the bar in a run and hopped in the first cab they could find. By the time they reached Kings Cross it was 10:35, but they managed to enter the station at 10:40, because Minerva didn't have any Muggle money so the girls had to pay. Minerva dragged them in a rush through the barrier and pushed them on the train faster then on could say _Hey_! The girls didn't even have time to glance around or get a glimpse at the color of the train because it was off.

The compartments were all full, except one in which a bushy haired girl sat.

"Hello," Heidi greeted politely. "Can we sit with you? Everywhere else is full."

"Certainly," the bushy haired girls replied. "I'm Hermione Grange, and you are?"

"Heidi Dursley, and this is my twin sister Diana, it's nice to meet you."

"Are you two Muggle-born?" Hermione asked.

The girls looked questioningly at each other. "We were raised by Muggles," Diana said.

"Oh, that's great then," Hermione said. "It means I'm not the only one."

"Of course not," Diana waved a dismissive hand. "I can assure you there will be a whole bunch more like us."

"I know, it's just that I'm worried that I'll be behind everybody else since I'm Muggle-born, so I learned all of the text books by heart, and I hope that's enough because there were these other books I thought of buying, but I wasn't sure if those would help, but now I'm not sure if that was such a good idea, maybe I should have bought them. Do you think I should have bought them?" She said all of this in a very fast and shaky voice.

"I think it's enough that you learn what the books say," Heidi assured.

"Really, because-"

"Really!" Heidi cut her off before she could continue.

"Oh," the girl sighed in relief. "That's good, that's very good."

"So, where do you live?" Diana asked in an attempt to stir the subject from the boring term of books to something more interesting.

The girl went along with her change and Diana felt a lot more comfortable talking to her, now that she was in her field of expertise. The twins talked, albeit a bit reluctant about the Dursley's and so passed the train ride. The trolley lady was the only visitor that disturbed the girl's chatter. A voice resounded in the train, telling the kids to leave the luggage on board before the train finally came to a halt. The three girls exited the train together and came face to face with someone the twins weren't so kin on meeting.

"Firs' years! Firs' years over here!" It was that rude, enormous man that came to their house!

Hermione made to go towards him but stopped when she saw that her two new friends weren't moving.

"What's the matter? He's calling the first years," she said

"We, we've met that man before," Heidi said. "It wasn't a pleasant encounter."

"Oh," the girl said. "Then let's stick to the back of the crowd." She suggested and the twins nodded. They waited until the enormous man had his back turned to them and followed closely behind the back of the line. Diana thought she saw a glimpse of the boy she had meat at Madam Malkins and smiled broadly. She couldn't wait to see him again.

"I haven't asked," Hermione's bossy voice disturbed her trail of thoughts. "What house do you think you will be sorted into?"

"Gryffindor or Hufflepuff," Diana answered without thinking.

"I'm guessing Ravenclaw," Heidi said.

"I want to be in Gryffindor, I head Dumbledore himself was in that house, but I don't suppose Ravenclaw would be that bad," Hermione ranted.

The crowd of students came to a halt in front of a great black lake and a choir of oh-s, and ah-s enveloped the students. A gigantic castle with millions of tiny little windows, glittering like candle lights and with a vast number of towers was visible on the other side of the lake. The girls looked around and saw a few boats waiting at the shore.

"No more'n four to a boat!" Shouted the giant and climbed into one all by himself.

The three girls hopped in a boat as far away from the giant as they could and were joined by a plump boy who was sniffing about a toad named Trevor who he apparently lost. The boats were off, gliding across the smooth surface of the lake. A deafening silence surrounded the crowd of students, all too enveloped in the sight of the magnificent castle that stood towering over them.

"Heads down!" Yelled the giant disturbing the silence and bringing the children's attention back to their surrounding. The kids bent their heads as the boats carried them through a curtain of ivy that hid a large opening in the cliff. They journey through a dark tunnel that seemed to lead them underneath the castle until they reached an underground harbor where they climbed onto the rock and followed the giant up some stony steps until they reached a huge oak front door.

"Oy, you there! Is this your toad?" the giant asked the plump boy who had joined them on the boat ride.

"Trevor!" Cried the boy and hugged the frog gratefully.

"Everyone here?" The giant asked and then proceeded to knock three times on the large oak doors. Outside stepped a figure that the twins had become quite accustomed to seeing throughout the last month, Minerva McGonagall.

"The firs' years, Professor McGonagall," said the giant.

"Thank you Hagrid," Minerva nodded and pulled the door open for the kids.

Hagrid, as Minerva had called the giant man, entered the castle and disappeared through a set of double doors.

The kids followed Minerva inside and marveled at the size of the hall way. She led them into a small chamber where she turned and addressed the students.

"Welcome to Hogwarts," said Professor McGonagall. "The start-of-term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will be sorted into your houses. The Sorting is a very important ceremony because, while you are here, your house will be something like your family within Hogwarts. You will have classes with the rest of your house, sleep in your house dormitory and spend free time in your house common room."

"The four houses are called Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin. Each house has its own noble history and each has produced outstanding witches and wizards. While you are at Hogwarts, your triumphs will earn your house points, while any rule breaking will lose house points. At the end of the year, the house with the most points is awarded the house cup, a great honor. I hope each of you will be a credit to whichever house becomes yours."

"The Sorting Ceremony will take place in a few minutes in front of the rest of the school. I suggest you all smarten yourselves up as much as you can while you are waiting."

"I shall return when we are ready for you," said Professor McGonagall. "Please wait quietly."

She left the chamber.

Hermione started to hyperventilate and recite paragraphs she had learned from the text books up until Diana stopped her.

"They won't test us," she said exasperatedly. "They're going to make us wear a dirty old hat, who is going to sort us according to our personality!"

"Are you sure?" asked a red haired boy with freckles all over his face. "My brothers told me we have to fight a troll!"

"They lied!" Snapped Diana.

"Well, well, fancy meeting you here," a smooth, familiar voice dragged Diana's attention away from the red haired.

Diana turned to give the boy a dazzling smile. "Well, I did say I would be here, didn't I." The boy nodded in acknowledgment.

Just then a pile of ghosts walked through one of the walls and startled the kids. The clouded figures were arguing among themselves about a certain Peeves person (?). One of the ghosts that looked like a fat monk wished them luck and said he would hope to see them in Hufflepuff, the three girls concluded that he was the Hufflepuff ghost, and soon after Minerva returned and led the kids in the great hall.

There was another round of oh-s and ah-s as the kids took in the magnificent sight of the great hall. There were millions of candles floating a few feet above the four tables where the rest of the students were sitting. At the top of the hall was another large table where the teachers sat. The kids were led right in between the staff table and the students where a chair was placed on the left with a rusty old hat on top. Hermione visibly relaxed when she realized that Diana had told the truth about the sorting and turned to glance at the bewitched ceiling that looked like it opened up towards the heavens.

She giggled when Heidi said: "It's bewitched to look like the sky."

"Did you read that in Hogwarts a History?" She asked amused.

"Of course she did," Diana answered, and the three girls stiffened a laugh as the hat began to sing.

"Oh, you may not think I'm pretty,

But don't judge on what you see,

I'll eat myself if you can find

A smarter hat than me.

You can keep your bowlers black,

Your top hats sleek and tall,

For I'm the Hogwarts Sorting Hat

And I can cap them all.

There's nothing hidden in your head

The Sorting Hat can't see,

So try me on and I will tell you

Where you ought to be.

You might belong in Gryffindor,

Where dwell the brave at heart,

Their daring, nerve, and chivalry

Set Gryffindors apart;

You might belong in Hufflepuff,

Where they are just and loyal,

Those patient Hufflepuffs are true

And unafraid of toil;

Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw,

if you've a ready mind,

Where those of wit and learning,

Will always find their kind;

Or perhaps in Slytherin

You'll make your real friends,

Those cunning folk use any means

To achieve their ends.

So put me on! Don't be afraid!

And don't get in a flap!

You're in safe hands (though I have none)

For I'm a Thinking Cap!"

The students burst into applause as the hat bowed before the four tables and went silent.

"When I call your name, you will put on the hat and sit on the stool to be sorted," said McGonagall. "Abbott, Hannah!"

"I want to bee in Gryffindor," blurred out Heidi.

"What?" Asked Diana. "I thought you wanted to be in Ravenclaw." Hermione nodded

"I did, but I like Minerva, and she _is_ the head of Gryffindor house."

"Oh, I see," said Diana. "I want to be in Minerva's house too!" She exclaimed.

"We all want to be in Gryffindor," said Hermione. The twins nodded eagerly.

When Minerva reached the letter D the girls waited patiently for her to call them, but she didn't. A confused look passed over the three girl's face as Hermione's name was called. She stepped forward shooting concerned looks at the twins and put on the hat. Then Heidi remembered something: _Her biological parents were named Potter_! She whispered this quietly to her sister. Diana turned to her, a horror struck expression on her face, but she soon snapped out of it as Hermione was declared a Gryffindor. They both clapped encouragingly for their bushy haired friend. She passed them still looking concerned and gave them a small reassuring smile before running off towards the Gryffindor table.

Dread began to fill the girls as the letter P drove nearer and nearer, Diana didn't even realize when Draco Malfoy was called to the stool and declared a Slytherin, nor when a pair of twins were declared a Ravenclaw and Gryffindor respectively, but she did hear it loud and clear when Minerva mounted the words "Potter, Diana!"

The whole hall went death silent.

Diana had her eyes firmly shut and her hand was squeezing that of her sisters so tight she would have thought it would crush into tiny bits.

"Diana," Minerva called a bit more quietly, and that was all it took for the whispers to start.

"Potter, did she say _Potter_?"

"_The_ Potter twins?"

"You think it's one of them?"

Diana took in a deep breath and turned her face towards Minerva's voice, only then did she feel comfortable enough to open her eyes. The reassuring smile from Minerva and the hand squeeze from her sister gave her a sudden sense of security that she had never felt before. She straightened her head and walked confidently towards the stool. Minerva placed the hat on her head.

"Hmm," a small voice whispered inside her ear. "You are a though one, plenty of courage, quite loyal. I see, not a bad mind either. There's talent, ah my goodness, yes, - and an uncanny thirst for wealth, that's interesting, but where to putt you."

Diana started repeating Gryffindor, over and over in her head.

"Gryffindor, I see," said the small voice. "It could work. Yes, why not, it's all here in your head. Then better be GRYFFINDOR!" The hat shouted for all to hear and Diana eagerly took it off and gave Minerva a dazzling smile which she returned. She enveloped her sister in a bone crushing hug and ran towards the wildly cheering Gryffindor table.

Her smile faded when she laid eyes on Hermione's pouting face.

"I'm sorry! I grew up with the name Dursley, I barely found out a month ago that my name was Potter, and I'm still not used to it," she took the seat next to Hermione and desperately tried to explain. "I didn't mean to lie to you! I don't even think of myself as a Potter! Hermione!"

The other girl turned a doubtful look her way and said: "You didn't know your name was Potter?"

"No! My mom… I mean my aunt never told me she had a sister," Diana said in a small voice. "She never told me she wasn't my mother," she added bitterly.

Hermione nodded her head. "Alright, I'll forgive you, but no more secrets!" She stated firmly.

"No more secrets," Diana agreed and the two turned to watch as Heidi made her way towards the stool.

Minerva smiled encouragingly at the girl. Diana was definitely a Gryffindor at heart, but Heidi was most certainly a Ravenclaw, her mind held no doubt of that as he placed the hat on the girls head.

"Hmm," the soft voice whispered. "Difficult. Very difficult. You are a precautious child, you don't easily trust people. You are loyal but only to a certain degree, so Hufflepuff is out of the question. Quite witty, an extraordinary mind for someone so young! Yes, Ravenclaw would flourish with you on its side. But you are manipulative and have quite a nice thirst to prove yourself, now that's interesting… So where shall I put you?"

_Gryffindor,_ Heidi though. _I want to be in Gryffindor!_

"Gryffindor, eh?" the hat seemed doubtful. "I'm not sure that would be the best house for you. How about Ravenclaw or Slytherin? You could be grate and both will help you on your way to your goals better then Gryffindor could. No? Well if you're sure, better be GRYFFINDOR!"

Heidi promptly took of the hat before it could change its mind and turned to smile at Minerva who had and unmasked expression of shock on her face. The Transfiguration's teacher soon recovered and raised a delicate brow at the girl while nodding her head. Heidi ran towards the Gryffindor table which was cheering loudly: "We got the Potter twins," and sat besides Diana.

"You lie to me again and I _won't_ forgive you," promised Hermione. Heidi gave her and apologetic look and mouthed a soft _sorry_. The girls turned their gaze towards the remaining students and eagerly watched the sorting. They clapped and cheered with their housemates whenever someone was sorted into Gryffindor, but they didn't boo when someone was sorted into Slytherin.

Diana was scooping around the tables, searching for the pretty blond boy and she finally spotted him at the Slytherin table sitting between two gorilla-like boys, watching her intently. She flushed a slight shade of pink and smiled at him. The boy looked confused for a bit then nodded his head slightly and turned to watch the sorting.

Heidi was studying the students at the Gryffindor table. She recognized the red head that had commented about fighting a troll, the plump blond boy, Neville, who had lost his toad, and that was about it. She turned her head towards the staff table, and saw to her disdain that Hagrid, the giant was sitting right in front of their table. He caught Heidi's eyes and gave a tentative smile which she curtly returned.

The conversation suddenly dyed down and Heidi turned to see that the sorting had ended and a tall, slender and extremely old (if his beard was anything to go by), man dressed in a ridiculous neon green suit with a purple hat on top (which Heidi assumed was the Headmaster), had risen from his seat in the middle of the table.

"Welcome," he said. "Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts! Before we begin our banquet, I would like to say a few words. And here they are: Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak!"

"Thank you!"

Heidi burst out laughing as she saw the food appear on the table. Couldn't the man pick something that didn't sound as ridiculous for a password? (Or whatever it was that was used to summon the food).

They began eating and listening to the conversation the other children were having. They learned that Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington was the ghost of Gryffindor, he liked to be called Sir Nick, but everybody called him Nearly Headless Nick, much to the ghost's annoyance. They learned that Slytherin won the cup six years in a row and Hermione said she'd like to help her house win the cup, to which the twins agreed.

They learned that there were four boys in their year: Seamus Finnigan, Dean Thomas, Ron Weasley - the red haired boy and the plump boy Neville Longbottom.

There were two other girls in their year, except the twins and Hermione: Parvati Patil, and Lavender Brown. Hermione and Heidi didn't like the other two very much but Diana seemed quite comfortable with them and was immediately engulfed in a conversation about boys.

_How surprising_, thought Heidi with a roll of her eyes.

Hermione had started questioning Percy Weasley (a fifth year prefect), about lessons, so Heidi took to studying the staff table again and immediately noticed a teacher with greasy black hair, a hooked nose, and sallow skin who was glaring at her and her sister as if he had seen a ghost. He briskly turned towards a guy that was dressed in purple cloths with a purple turban on his head when he caught her eye.

The purple clothed teacher and the greasy haired one turned just for a second to look at her and she felt a searing pain explode in her covered up scar. She heard her sister moan in discomfort somewhere nearby and knew she wasn't the only on who felt it.

"Excuse me," she turned towards Percy Weasley and ignored the look her sister was giving her. "Who are those two teachers at the high table?"

Percy took a glimpse at the staff table and said: "The one with the large turban is Professor Quirrell, the Defense teacher, and the one sitting besides him is Professor Snape. He teaches Potions, but he doesn't want to — everyone knows he's after Quirrell's job. Knows an awful lot about the Dark Arts, Snape I mean."

Heidi nodded slowly and turned back to study the two. They never looked once in her direction during the remaining of the meal. Snape was avoiding her like the plague, and Quirrell was avoiding looking in Snape's direction like the plague.

Desert soon disappeared and the old man with the ridiculous long beard was on his feet again.

"Who is he?" Diana asked.

"That's Dumbledore!" Hermione exclaimed shocked. "Didn't you know?"

"Nope," Diana said flatly.

"Ahem — just a few more words now that we are all fed and watered. I have a few start-of-term notices to give you."

"First years should note that the forest on the grounds is forbidden to all pupils. And a few of our older students would do well to remember that as well."

Dumbledore's twinkling eyes flashed in the direction of the Weasley twins.

"I have also been asked by Mr. Filch, the caretaker, to remind you all that no magic should be used between classes in the corridors."

"Quidditch trials will be held in the second week of the term. Anyone interested in playing for their house teams should contact Madam Hooch."

"And finally, I must tell you that this year the third-floor corridor on the right-hand side is out of bounds to everyone who does not wish to die a very painful death."

"And now, before we go to bed, let us sing the school song!" cried Dumbledore.

The school song turned out to be a butcher of modern and classic day music. Diana (who loved singing), flared her nostrils at the twins for their chosen tone and had refused to sing another note after the first line. Heidi and Hermione tagged along, changing tones and notes as they went, but they too gave up after half the song. At long last the Weasley twins finished their funeral song and Dumbledore dismissed them off to bed, much to the girl's relief.

Percy led the first years up the marble staircase and through a bunch of hidden doors and shortcuts and suddenly came to a halt. A bunch of walking sticks started throwing themselves at the kids, and a blue little man with wicked eyes appeared in front of them and started throwing insults and levitating objects their way.

Heidi was beyond tired and annoyed at this point, her eyes flashed and her lips were twitched in a thick line. Diana grabbed a hold of Hermione and pulled her as far away from her sister as the corridor allowed. She knew that Heidi was a calm and collective person, but when she did burst out, she left you wishing you were somewhere else; unlike Diana's temper tantrums, she was dangerous as hell when mad.

Heidi didn't even bother trying to reason with the stupid ghost, she knew it was hopeless, so she whipped out her wand and hexed the bugger with the first spell she could think off.

"Flipendo!"

Peeves thinking that spells could not harm him didn't jump out of the way and therefore was surprised when the spell did hurtle him backwards straight through a wall and out of sight.

"I'm not done with you!" Heidi made a move to chase after the poltergeist but Percy stopped her.

"That was quite an impressive spell work miss Potter, but I do think it is time for bed."

Heidi glared at him; futilely trying to stiffen a yawn, then gave up and nodded.

Percy led the kids to a portrait of a very fat woman who was dressed in a pink silk dress.

"Password," she said.

"Caput Draconis," said Percy, and the portrait swung forward to reveal a round hole in the wall. The girls walked numbly inside and scurried off in the direction that Percy said was the first year's girl's dorm and crashed on the bead exhausted.

Heidi groaned when the extra surplus of magic made itself known.

"Stupid thing!" She scowled at her wand.

"What'd the matter?" Hermione asked.

Heidi sat up straight with a sigh knowing she wouldn't be able to sleep unless she got rid of the extra dose. She was sitting on the semi-last bed from the wall, Hermione was sitting on the last, while Diana occupied the middle one; Parvati's bead was the first from the door and Lavender was sitting between her and Diana.

Heidi went to sit near Hermione and told her about her wand.

"Are you serious?" Hermione asked shocked. "The wand does that?"

"Yep," Heidi turned to glare at it (she found herself doing that a lot these days), and began casting some of the spells she'd learned in the past weeks, which weren't much, the levitating charm, the lumos charm and that hex she used on Peeves.

"There, all out!" she cheered and jumped in her bed. "Night, Hermione." And she was asleep within minutes.

The twins didn't actually know what happened that night, but they dreamt; a dream they never had before.

Diana saw running from a green light, that kept getting nearer and nearer, and Heidi dreamt of red eyes that were watching her; something acing to hatred filled them, but there was another emotion there, a spark of something she didn't understand, or didn't want to.

As dawn rose over the misty castle and the flick of first light crept it's way through the window, so did the night's rooming shadow's vanished from the girl's dreams and their thought's turned to more pleasant memories, such as flying and the smiling faces of a happy family, and so, just like that, the dreams were wiped from the girls minds.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5: The Potions Master's worst Day**

"There, look."

"Where?"

"Next to the bushy haired girl."

"Did you see their faces?"

"I bet their part veela. There isn't a girl I've met that looks _that_ good and isn't distantly related to veelas."

"I know. They're damn right gorgeous. But did you see the scars?"

"No, did you?"

Whispers followed the girls from the minute they woke up the next morning. Lavender, Parvati and Hermione had demanded to see the scars the moment they were out of bed and the girls reluctantly showed them, but that was about it, whoever else was dumb enough to ask to see the scars got hexed by Heidi and a good slap over the face from Diana (if they were boys), or a glare from the twins (if they were girls).

The five girls had a hard time getting back to the great hall but luckily they ran into Percy who was apparently doing his morning patrol and asked him for directions.

After the horrifying experience of having a ghost walk right through them, two amusing encounter with Peeves (which both ended with the poltergeist being hexed out of his mind by Heidi), and a rather awkward knock in with Filch (Diana befriended his cat Mrs. Norris, so they managed to get on the good side of the caretaker), the girls finally found the great hall (and that was with direction!), and collapsed in the front seats at the Gryffindor table. They arrived a few minutes before the end of the feat and got to eat a bit of pudding and ice-cream before the food vanished. Then McGonagall passed by to hand them their schedule.

Finding the classes was another problem on the girl's head, and then there was the classes themselves.

Every Wednesday at midnight they had Astronomy. Diana, Lavender and Parvati weren't to pleased about it, since they'd lose precious hours of their beauty sleep, on the other hand Hermione and Heidi enjoyed the class quite a lot, so the upper mentioned three were always careful to sit with the two during class.

They had Herbology three times a week, a class that Diana despised with all her might because she had to get her hands dirty, but she normally left all the work to her sister and only pretended to help out occasionally. She did however like Professor Sprout and sometimes wished she would have told the hat to sort her in Hufflepuff, but the though flew out of her mind when she saw Minerva at the high table every morning.

The first lesson of Transfigurations had been everything the girls expected. Minerva was most certainly an impressive person. Strict and clever, she held herself with a demeanor that demanded nothing but respect.

"Transfiguration is some of the most complex and dangerous magic you will learn at Hogwarts," she said. "Anyone messing around in my class will leave and not come back. You have been warned."

She turned her table into a pig then back again. The students were all egger to begin their lessons but soon found out that they wouldn't be changing anything into pigs for a long time. After taking some complicated notes, near the end of the class, McGonagall finally gave them some matches which they had to turn into needles. By the end of the class Hermione had managed to change the needle's color and make it sharper at the end while Heidi managed to turn it completely.

Minerva had nodded her approval. "Well done Miss Potter, ten points to Gryffindor!" She had silently added, "Your father was the only other student who had managed to complete this task in the first class. It seems that you have inherited his talent."

Charms was taught by a tiny little teacher, named professor Flitwick, who had to sit on a pile of books to see over his desk. Diana had fallen in love with the subject and had impressed Flitwick by performing the levitating charm and her cloth fitting charm (or so she had deemed it), in the first class. Flitwick had also taken an immediate liking to her and commented that she reminded him of her mother, who apparently was also talented at charms.

Then there was History of Magic were even Heidi (who loved muggle history classes), and Hermione (who loved classes in general), had to admit it was the most boring class ever. Professor Bins was the only teacher that was a ghost. He had apparently fallen asleep in front of the fire of the staff room and had woken up the next morning and left to teach leaving his body behind.

The second most awaited class of the week was Defense Against the Dark Arts, which turned out to be something acing to a bad joke. The smell of garlic intoxicated the whole class (the Weasley twins had said something about a vampire the teacher had meat in Romania), and Professor Quirrell was goofy. The kids couldn't understand what he was saying most of the times and when he talked about his subject he gave you the distinctive feeling that he loathed it. Heidi sometimes wandered why he didn't hand over the job to Snape if he hated it so much.

The girls had learned that the Gryffindors and Slytherins were in constant war, and much to Diana's displeasure, Draco Malfoy and Ron Weasley had started a fight the moment they laid eyes on each other. While Diana didn't like Ron, because he was one of those people who teased Hermione for always answering in class (Heidi liked to learn, but was never the type to willingly answer questions), she disagreed with the way Draco teased and looked down at every passing student (be it that he had a grudge against him or not), so she had ignored the blond boy for most of the week.

Friday finally came and the girls had somewhat gotten used to the castle's weird roads and managed to get to the Great Hall without getting lost. They took their seats at the Gryffindor table just as hundreds of owls flew into the Great Hall carrying the morning mail. Diana had a sudden urge to write to her mother, she might have been mad at her for lying, but that was a month ago and she figured she had punished her parents long enough. She turned towards her sister to speak her mind when she saw Ruby, her sister's energetic and very dumb owl, land straight in her soup.

Diana burst out laughing. "Oh, that owl's _so_ dumb!"

Heidi glared at her sister and pulled her owl out of the soup with her spoon. All three of the girls started laughing when the tiny little thing hopped head first back into the soup.

"That's my soup you," Heidi whined but she couldn't help laughing as the tiny little owl tried to sit up but managed to roll over and fall back in. "Ok, it is dumb," she admitted giggling.

"What do you think it's doing here?" Hermione asked between giggles.

Heidi shrugged and picked up the tiny little bugger with her hands and dumped it into her napkin. She started to dry the owl with her sister's napkin.

"Hey! That's mine," Diana protested.

"And I care because?" Heidi asked and tried to disentangle the owl from between the napkins. "There, all better!" She stated proudly and then noticed that the owl had a torn up piece of paper tied to her leg. "You actually brought me mail?" She asked bewildered. She took the piece of paper and unfolded it. Hermione and Diana snuggled close to her to see what it said. The writing was very untidy and the girls could barely make out:

_Hello girls,_

_Just wanted ter have a little chat with yehs and get to know yehs better, I think we might of started out on the wrong leg. If you're free and want to, I'll be gladly expecting your visit._

_Hagrid._

The girls turned towards the staff table and their eyes immediately fell on Hagrid's amused glance. He tried to straighten his face, which proved to be a difficult task what with Ruby flying around the table and hitting every goblet and fruit basket and practically everything in its way. The girls shared a look.

"Well," asked Heidi. "Should we go?"

Diana stole a quick glance of the enormous man at the staff table and said: "Why not. It might prove to be interesting. You coming Mione?"

"Sure," Hermione said.

The girls turned to the staff table and nodded towards the enormous man with a polite smile. Hagrid's eyes lid up and he beamed at the girls.

Breakfast ended and the three girls mad their way towards the dungeons where they would have their first Potions class.

The dungeons was a place rarely visited by the girls, classes or not, so as per expected, they got lost on their way and were one of the last to arrive. Unsurprisingly when they did finally managed to find the group of other children, Draco Malfoy and Ronald Weasley were having another fight for God only knows whatever reason.

"At least I don't go running to daddy whenever I end up in a mess," Ron was saying.

"Of course you don't," Draco sneered. "Because _your_ father, unlike _mine_ wouldn't be able to solve anything with that little brain of his!"

"Hey! Break it up you two!" Diana rushed over toward them and split the two apart.

"He started it," Ron accused.

"Who cares," Diana snapped and force dragged Ron towards the Gryffindor side of the hall. It was always like this, every freaking time the Gryffindors and Slytherins had classes together there was always a riot going on, Diana was sick of it. Why did boys have to be such brutes she would never understand.

Snape arrived on the scene a few seconds later and found the two groups of kids engulfed in a glare competition. Draco, his godson, was glaring daggers at what looked to be another Weasley who was being restrained by the Potter twins. He mentally sighed and walked right through the line of penetrating glares, redirecting the children's attention towards him. He opened the door and walked inside the class room with his long black cape billowing dramatically behind him. The students gave one last glare to their rival house mates and followed the teacher inside.

Snape barely made it to his desk when a horrifying scream echoed through the class room. He swiftly turned to identify the source of the sound and his narrowed eyes rested on the figure of Diana Potter.

The girl was shaking like mad, her hands were roughly clapped over her mouth and her eyes were wide in horror as if she was looking at a dead corpse. Snape followed her gaze which landed on the jars of pickled animals that were floating in the glasses.

Heidi jumped in front of her sister and crashed her head to her chest and tried to calm the now crying girl down.

"Miss Potter?" Snape asked cautiously approaching the girls.

"Can you please cover them up," Heidi said pointing at the jarred animals.

Snape nodded and conjured a blanket to cover up the jars.

"I think she's in shock professor," said Hermione. "Can we take her to the hospital wing?" Snape nodded mutely and watched as the girls tried to stir Diana towards the door, but she wouldn't budge.

"Allow me," Snape said. He walked towards the girls and picked Diana up in his arms then turned towards the rest of the class and said: "Miss Potter, you come with me, the rest of you go to your seats and get ready for class. I won't be long." He stalked out of the class with Heidi at his heals and made his way towards the hospital wing.

Madam Ponfry gave him a disapproving glare. "I can't believe you actually managed to scare a student this bad Severus," she reprimand. "What did the poor girl do to you?"

"It's not the professor's fault," Heidi said in his defense. "Diana has an unhealthy obsession with animal and she freaked out when she saw the jars in the dungeons."

A spark of relief crossed Snape's face before it turned back into an emotionless mask while Madam Ponfry gave a confused look.

"But, if she can't stand to see dead animals, how is she going to study Potions?" She asked confused.

_How indeed_ mussed Snape as he looked at the sleeping form of the red haired girl. She looked just like Lily when she was sleeping. The same flaming red hair, the same beautiful face, she was an exact copy of Lily, everything except the eyes. Those accursed eyes were the only reminder the girl had of her father, and Snape hated James even more for that. Ever since he had laid eyes on her at the opening feast he had always wondered why only the eyes were amiss from her, those beautiful emerald orbs that her sister had. Heidi, while being the carbon copy of Lily had only one flaw, that wasn't much of a flaw in Snape's opinion, James' jet black hair and Lily's combined to create a perfect example of why men thanked the gods for creating a woman, the girl was breathtaking, both of them were, he reluctantly had to admit that James eyes fitted Diana perfectly, he was just not used to seeing them on that body.

Diana groaned slightly and slowly started to open her eyes. Dumbledore chose that exact moment to enter the hospital wing, and right behind him were McGonagall and Hagrid.

"What have you done to my student, Severus?" McGonagall asked sharply.

Heidi sighed and told the three people what happened, again. Hagrid's face lit up at the news and Dumbledore chuckled slightly, dough Snape for one did not understand what was so funny in this whole thing.

Diana for once was a little puzzled about where she was and looked confusedly around the room. There was Dumbledore there, Minerva, Hagrid, Heidi, a woman dressed in a medieval dress, and…

"Are they still alive?" She blurred out when her eyes landed on Snape and tried sitting up.

The occupants of the room turned to look at her slightly sad.

"Am, Diana," Heidi began. "Potions is something similar to cooking, some times," she said this in a slow and cautious voice and hoped her sister wouldn't fait again. "So, you know, just like in cooking, they use-"

"Dead animals," Diana whispered in a small, quivering voice.

"Well you have to eat something you carnivore little brat," Heidi snapped.

"Hey! I don't mind what you cook as long as I don't see it get killed," Diana snapped back.

"Lucky you," Heidi said smirking ruefully. "They're already dead!"

Diana clapped her hands over her mouth and turned her tear full eyes towards the Potions Professor. "You, you kill innocent animals! Is that what your subject is all about?"

Snape fiddled on the spot, not being able to stand Lily's look alike staring at him like that.

"No you idiot!" Heidi said. "Potions is like muggle medicine!"

"Well they don't use animals' dead body in muggle medicine and I don't want to learn it!" Diana said stubbornly folding her arms over her chest.

"To bad," Heidi sneered uncompanionably, "because you are! Now get that lazy ass of your out of bed and back to class, we've already wasted enough time!"

"I'm not going anywhere near dead animals," Diana shrieked.

A vein inside Heidi's skull burst open and she stormed towards her sister wand raised high. "You are so going to, and that's the end of discussion," she said in a menacing voice that sent shivers down Diana's spine.

The red haired girl wasted no time in jumping out of bead and hiding behind Minerva. "Professor, she wants to hex me!"

"Heidi, put that wand away right now," snapped McGonagall. "And you" she turned towards Diana, "I suggest you put an end to this foolish attitude of yours and get back to class!"

"But there are dead animal-"

"Miss Potter," Minerva said in a sharp voice that had Diana jumping one foot in the air. "Potions is an important subject that has been taught at Hogwarts for centuries! It is an invalid subject in the wizarding world; which most of the work applications in the ministry require! Now, I recommend, if you want to become _anything_ in the wizarding world that isn't related to a knuckle head, to stop this nonsense at once and head down towards your Potions class!"

Diana sniffed slightly and gave a short nod of her head.

"Don't worr' Diana," Hagrid bent down in order to see the small little girl better. "The animals don' suffer b'for they dye, we wiza's don' like ter cause pain ter anybody."

Diana turned her sniffing face towards Hagrid and asked: "Really?"

Hagrid nodded and gave her a reassuring smile. " 'ow bout yous come over after class and we can talk bout this some more, I miself am a fan of animals, and I've got quite the collection ter show yas."

Diana's face lit up and she gave Hagrid a beaming smile before she gloomily followed Snape and Heidi back towards the dungeons. She was sniffing the whole way, which only made Snape feel uncomfortable, because, unfortunately, she had Lily's voice too.

Snape opened the door to the class room only to find Draco and the Weasley boy engulfed in a vicious fist fight. Draco immediately cooled down when he saw Snape at the doorway, but Ron had the misfortune of throwing another punch and hitting the boy across the face.

"Weasley," Snape growled. "While in my class," he said in a slow and venomous voice, "you do as I say. And I told you, all of you," he turned his menacing eyes on the rest of the students which were hastily running back to their seats, "to sit quietly at your tables and prepare for Potions, did I not! Crabbe, get Malfoy to the hospital wing! Weasley 10 points from Gryffindor!"

"But professor," Ron tried to protest but was cut off by a sharp "Sit down!" from Snape.

Crabbe carried Malfoy to the hospital wing while Diana and Heidi took their seats at the front of the class next to Hermione.

"You okay?" the bushy haired asked Diana. Said girl turned to give her a disgruntled glare.

"She's fine," Heidi snapped.

The lesson was not a pleasant one for Snape, not in the slightest. Try as he might, he just couldn't ignore Diana's snorts or whines whenever he came across to mentioning a term that _sounded_ like and animal's name. She paired up with her sister and stubbornly folded her hands over her chest refusing to do anything other then stare at her feet for the rest of the class. Snape of course ignored this. If it would have been any other Gryffindor he would have given the insufferable little brat detention and taken a handful house points by now, but since it was Lily's daughter we were talking about, he point blank refused to acknowledge anything, which did earn him a few strange glares from the Slytherins, especially Pansy Parkinson. He did however take a few more points from the Gryffindors by questioning Weasley and because the Longbottom spawn blew up his cauldron.

When the class finally ended Snape couldn't have been happier and sadder as Diana stormed out of the room a few seconds after the bell rang.

Diana wanted to go to Hagrid right away, but her sister and Hermione forcefully dragged her to their next classes. She was so happy when the bell rang for the last class of the day that she dashed out of the front door and walked throughout the grounds searching for Hagrid. When Heidi and Hermione finally caught up to her they told her he lived in the small wooden house on the edge of the forbidden forest.

The three girls made their way towards the cabin and knocked on the wooden door. They heard a booming bark from inside and a few scrambling noises, then Hagrid's voice yelling: "_Back_, Fang! _Back_!"

Hagrid's cracked the door open to have a look at however was outside and smiled when he saw the three girls.

"Hang on," he said. "_Back_, Fang." He let them in struggling to hold the collar of an enormous dog.

Diana's eyes lit up at the sight of the boarhound and she enveloped the gigantic animal in a fierce hug.

"I'm so glad to see one alive," she sniffed. "I thought I'd be stuck with dead animal for the rest of the day." She started patting and fussing over the enormous dog who seemed only glad to reciprocate her feelings.

"Make yourselves at home," said Hagrid with and amused smile on his face.

"What's his name?" Asked Diana.

"Fang," answered Hagrid.

"This is Hermione Granger," Heidi told Hagrid, who was pouring boiling water into a large teapot and putting rock cakes onto a plate.

The rock cakes were actually _made_ of rock the girls soon found out as they tried to eat one and nearly cracked their teeth on them, but the girls pretended to like them as they began a friendly conversation with the enormous man. The first impression that Heidi had about the half-giant soon left the girl's mind and she decided that Hagrid was a good person after all, while Diana stubbornly stated that he was being rude, and scolded the poor man when he called Filch "that old git."

"Yer know there was a student I used ter know that loved animal about as much as I did," Hagrid said, trying to stir the conversation away from Filch. "His name was Charly Weasley." Hagrid started telling Diana all kinds of stories about said Charly Weasley while Heidi and Hermione began scanning a piece of paper that turned out to be a cutting from the Daily Prophet, the wizarding newspaper.

_GRINGOTTS BREAK-IN LATEST_

_Investigations continue into the break-in at Gringotts on 31 July, widely believed to be the work of Dark wizards or witches unknown. Gringotts goblins today insisted that nothing had been taken. The vault that was searched had in fact been emptied the same day._

"_But we're not telling you what was in there, so keep your noses out if you know what's good for you," said a Gringotts spokesgoblin this afternoon._

"July 31, that's my birthday," said Heidi after she finished reading the newspaper.

"What's wrong with our birthday?" asked Diana.

"This newspaper here says that there was a breaking at Gringotts on July 31." Heidi handed the newspaper cutting to Diana.

Hagrid peered over Diana's head to look at the newspaper. "Oh that! Yeah, yeah. Bad news. Lucky I emptied the vault in time," he said proudly then cursed. "I shouldn't o' said that."

"You emptied the vault?" Hermione asked bewildered.

"What was inside?" Diana asked Hagrid.

"Forget bout it," Hagrid said dismissively.

Heidi narrowed her eyes at the enormous man, but decided against pressuring him for more information.

At around five minutes to seven the girls took their leave from Hagrid, Diana albeit a bit reluctant, but Hagrid promised her to show her and the other two some interesting creatures on their next visit which had the upper mentioned girl bouncing in excitement up the castle grounds.

"Well, the rudeness aside, he's not that bad," Diana commented when she had finally stopped bouncing.

"He's quite secretive if you ask me," mussed Heidi.

"How so?" asked Diana.

"He wouldn't tell us about that thing he picked up from Gringotts, though that was a rather personal question, considering the fact that we just met him," Hermione said.

"I want to find out what was in that vault," Heidi commented.

"Me too," Hermione agreed.

"Of course you do," Diana grimaced and marched through the double doors.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6: Midnight trouble**

The two girls still laughed about it, every freaking time they heard of it, and being the most popular sport in the wizarding world it was hard to end a day without hearing of Quidditch, or rather _that silly game were you played tag on a cleaning broom_ (or so the girls had deemed it), up until one faithful day when they saw the notice pinned up in the Gryffindor common room. Flying lessons would start Thursday, and the Gryffindors were learning with the Slytherins, something that had earned a bunch of boos and groans from the Lion's house and from the three girls too. They were so lucky they only had to endure Potions with the Slytherins but now flying lessons too?! Whoever wrote that schedule was clearly not in their right mind.

Hermione and Neville (one of the few boys the girls could actually stand), were chewing their fingers off on that faithful Thursday, because flying was something you couldn't learn by hear from a book, no matter how much you tried, and Hermione had tried.

Diana looked green in the face whenever she thought about the lessons, forget about the fact that it was dang right humiliating to ride a broom for god's sakes, but she was terrified of heights! She was keeping her fingers crossed so that it could rain and the lessons would be canceled.

Heidi too, was dreading the arrival of the lessons, not because she was scared of heights or anything of the like, but because the whole idea sounded dang right stupid to her. _Flying on brooms, I would never!_

The post arrived and Diana was again hit by a nostalgic feeling. She missed her family, she dreamt of them every night and she wanted to write to them. She made up her mind that she _would_ write to them right after those accursed flying lessons.

An owl flew over Neville's head and dropped a package right into his soup. Neville hastily pulled the package out and unraveled it to find a transparent sphere that seemed to be full of white smoke.

Neville mentioned it was a Remembrall and that it would glow red if he had forgotten something. Just as the words were out of his mouth the ball did glow red and Neville desperately tried to remember what he had forgotten.

Three-thirty finally arrived, and much to Diana's disdain the weather was perfect for a picnic, or a walk in the park, so she and the other two girls gloomily made their way towards the castle grounds where they'd be having their first flying lesson.

They reached a flat lawn on the other side of the forbidden forest, where the Slytherins were already gathered, and about twenty brooms lay neatly lined on the grass.

Madam Hooch arrived shortly after. She had spiky-gray hair and yellow eyes which were watching the students like a hawk.

"Well, what are you all waiting for?" she barked. "Everyone stand by a broomstick. Come on, hurry up."

Heidi sat in between Hermione and Diana while Ron took the seat next to her sister and much to Diana's displeasure and delight, Draco Malfoy took the seat across from her, which earned him a murderous glare from Ron.

"Stick out your right hand over your broom," called Madam Hooch at the front, "and say 'Up!'"

"UP!" Everyone (except Diana who was glaring at the old broom as if she'd kill it if it dared to as much as twitch), shouted.

Heidi's broom jumped into her hand at once, but was one of the few who did, Hermione's rolled on the ground while Neville's didn't make any attempt to move, and as per expected, Malfoy's and Weasley's brooms were in their hands in a flash and they both turned their eyes towards each other, wanting to make sure their broom had jumped up first.

"Miss Potter what are you trying to do, glare the broom down?" Asked Madam Hooch sharply. "You better be able to lift it by the end of this class," she warned, but Diana stubbornly refused to listen.

Pansy Parkinson (an annoying Slytherin girls who would be quite pretty if only she'd stop twisting that face of hers into weird shapes), started sniggering together with…some other girls Diana didn't know or care about.

"Do you want me to show you how it's done?" asked Ron slightly pink in the face. Draco narrowed his eyes at him.

"Do you _think_ I want to hang on a stick twenty feet above the ground looking like Tarzan in a bloody tree," Diana snapped at the boy who muttered a soft "Sorry" and turned his head away. A wide smirk of satisfaction spread on Draco's pointed visage and he sneered in Ron's face when he saw the other boy looking at him.

Madam Hooch showed them how to mount their brooms without sliding of the end and spent the next 20 minutes trying to get Diana to mount her broom, with little results. She eventually did manage to convince the girl by assuring her that if she got it right in the first try she'd be excused from the rest of the classes.

"Now, when I blow my whistle, you kick off from the ground, hard," said Madam Hooch. "Keep your brooms steady, rise a few feet, and then come straight back down by leaning forward slightly. On my whistle … three … two …"

Neville kicked off with much more force then was necessary and found himself hanging twenty feet in the air in a matter of seconds.

"Come back, boy!" Shouted Madam Hooch, but Neville seemed unable to hear her, as his broom rose higher and higher and made a sudden dash towards the left and slammed harshly into the wall. Neville fell hard on the concrete ground and Madam Hooch hurried towards him.

"None of you is to move while I take this boy to the hospital wing! You leave those brooms where they are or you'll be out of Hogwarts before you can say 'Quidditch.' Come on, dear." Madam Hooch said as she guided Neville towards the castle.

No sooner were they out of earshot than Malfoy burst into fits of laughter.

"Did you see his face, the great lump?"

The other Slytherins joined in.

"Shut it, you," snapped Diana.

"Ooh, sticking up for Longbottom?" said Pansy Parkinson. "Never thought fat little crybabies, were _your_ type." She sheered nastily and came to stand besides Draco who had his eyes set on something on the ground.

"Look!" said Malfoy, darting forward and snatching something out of the grass. "It's that stupid thing Longbottom's gran sent him." He tried to sneer but it was half force as Diana's cold glare landed on him.

"Give that here, Malfoy," said Ron. Everyone stopped talking and turned towards the two, anticipating the fight.

"Stop Ron, he's not worth it," Diana said and grabbed a hold of Ron, who visibly relaxed at the sight of her. Draco however was beyond angry, his nostrils flared and his lip twitched in an heated glare.

"I think I'll leave it somewhere for Longbottom to find. How about … up a tree?" He said and leaped onto his broom and up in the air.

"Give that back Malfoy!" Diana demanded, but Draco wasn't gonna have any of it.

"Why don't you come and get it if you want it so badly," he taunted.

Diana glared lividly at him and turned her eyes towards the broom on the ground...

_Oh, fuck this_! She mounted her broom and kicked off the ground darting towards Malfoy.

"Diana, no!" Hermione cried.

In a rush of panic Heidi followed her sister's lead and was up in the air in no time.

"Diana, turn back," she shouted at her sister, who was visibly shaking on her broom. "I'll get Malfoy!" Heidi tried again, but she knew it was futile. Diana had quite a temper and when it exploded, she could be dang right unreasonable.

Draco paled when he saw Diana advancing slowly towards him. Her posture was all wrong and she was shaking too much, the girl could fall of at any given moment. No, he couldn't let that happen.

"Ron," Heidi shouted. "Get Diana for me!" Ron nodded fervently and jumped on his broom speeding towards the red haired girl, while Heidi picked up speed and flew right pass her heading for Malfoy like a bullet.

Draco leaped out of the way looking stunned at the girl. She was one hell of a flyer.

Heidi turned sharply, her eyes steeling a glance at Diana who was slowly, but surely being guided towards the ground by Ron, then turned towards Malfoy and said: "Give that orb back or I'll knock you off that broom!"

Draco's eyes were drawn towards her face; a misty sort of glee was carved in his eyes.

"You look dang hot on a broom," he commented cheekily.

Heidi's cheeks flashed red and her eyes narrowed to slits as she darted for the blond with the soul intention of knocking him off his broom. Draco just barely managed to jump out of the way, but Heidi's legendary temper wouldn't let him off the hook that easily. She somehow knew exactly how to move because in the next moment she turned a spectacular one-hundred-and-eighty degree and hit Malfoy's broom hard on the side with her leg.

Malfoy's broom went berserk and he started to spin madly around. He tried desperately to regain the control but Heidi came crashing into him after another spectacular turn and made him spin even wilder towards the ground. In a fit of panic he threw the Rememberall out of his hand and hoped that would distract Heidi long enough so that he could land.

It worked. Heidi completely forgot about Malfoy the moment she saw the smoke-filled sphere and rushed towards it at top speed. She steered into a dive and caught the sphere right before it could hit the ground, then gently landed on the concrete floor letting out a breath she didn't even know was holding.

"HEIDI POTTER!"

And her breath caught in her throat again.

She slowly turned her head to look at Professor McGonagall's shocked face.

"Never … in all my time at Hogwarts …" Minerva stopped right in front of her. "How _dare _you …might have broken your neck or, or…Merlin knows what other things."

"It wasn't her fault, Professor —"

"Be quiet, Miss Patil —"

"But Malfoy —"

"That's enough, Mr. Weasley. Potter, follow me, now."

Heidi turned to give Malfoy an angry glare. The cheeky bastard actually had the nerves to blow a kiss her way before Diana started shouting at him, and made his face fall into one of pure torture. That gave Heidi a strange sort of satisfaction.

_Well, at least I know Diana will make Malfoy's life hell if I'm expelled, _she thought a little resigned. She hurried to catch up with McGonagall who kept climbing stairs and going through doors as she went on until she finally stopped in front of a classroom. She poked her head inside and said:

"Excuse me, Professor Flitwick, could I borrow Wood for a moment?"

_Wood?_ Thought Heidi slightly amused. _That was a bizarre name for…a cane? A teacher? The Headmaster's name was Dumbledore right. So who or what was this 'wood' thing?_

Outside the class room came a burly fifth-year boy who looked just as confused as her.

"Follow me, you two," said Minerva and this time she led the two to an empty classroom. Now Heidi was felling a bit awkward. Was she going to be expelled in front of a student?

"Heidi, this is Oliver Wood. Wood … I've found you a Seeker," Minerva stated proudly.

Wood's expression suddenly took on a tone of pure delight.

"Are you serious, Professor?"

"Absolutely," said Professor McGonagall crisply. "She's a natural. I've never seen anything like it. Was that your first time on a broomstick, Heidi?"

Heidi nodded slightly, but then remembered the dream she had about that time when she was flying. She wondered if that was real. _Nah, it was just a dream_, she assured herself and asked baffled:

"You're not expelling me?"

"Expel you?" asked Minerva slightly amused. "Why in Merlin's name would I do that?"

"She caught that orb in her hand after a fifty-foot dive," Professor McGonagall told Wood. "And did some pretty remarkable turns before that. Charlie Weasley couldn't have done it better."

Wood looked delighted at the news. He turned to beam at Heidi and asked: "Ever seen a game of Quidditch, Potter?"

"Wood's captain of the Gryffindor team," Professor McGonagall explained.

"She's just the build for a Seeker, too," said Wood eying her closely. Heidi was suddenly reminded of Malfoy's early remark and blushed and angry shade of red.

"Light, speedy, we'll have to get her a decent broom, Professor, a Nimbus Two Thousand or a Cleansweep Seven, I'd say."

"Now wait just a minute you two! I only mounted that broom because Diana can be really dumb at times and would have gotten hurt if she didn't give up on chasing Malfoy! Who's to say I'll do it again?"

"You looked rather content flying on a broom last I remember," Minerva said with a slight rose brow.

"Well, it _is_ kind of exciting really, and I _did_ like kicking Malfoy around, but-"

"Would you rather I expel you?" Asked McGonagall with a smirk. Both Heidi and Wood were glaring open mouthed at Minerva. Was she actually blackmailing her into joining the Quidditch team!

"Of course not!" Heidi hastily replied.

"Then it's all settled." Minerva said before the girl could utter another word. "I shall speak to Professor Dumbledore and see if we can't bend the first-year rule. Heaven knows, we need a better team than last year. _Flattened_ in that last match by Slytherin, I couldn't look Severus Snape in the face for weeks…"

McGonagall left leaving the two children to look in shock after her. Wood gave Heidi a cautious look and tentatively asked: "Can you make it to practice this Friday at seven?"

-----

Heidi was fuming at the Gryffindor table and kept shooting McGonagall angry glares, as were Hermione and Diana (said teacher was purposely avoiding looking in their direction). She had told the two what had happened and neither could believe their ears that McGonagall had actually _forced_ Heidi into joining the Gryffindor team. Diana was a little crossed with her sister for standing a full half an hour inside a class with a hot guy and not making a move on him, but that thing was nothing in comparison to the rage she was feeling towards a certain blond Slytherin first year who had purposely sat with his back turned toward them.

Fred and George Weasley came into the hall, spotted Heidi, and hurried over.

"Well done my lovely princess," said George in a low voice.

"Wood told us. We're on the team too, Beaters," Fred said.

Heidi gave them an irritated glare and the twins gulped and scurried off.

"Great, just great!" Heidi turned her scowling eyes toward the one responsible for this whole ordeal and was surprised (or maybe not), to find Ron Weasley in a shouting match with the insufferable blond, Hermione and Dean Thomas were standing a few strides away. The match ended before the girls had risen to their feet. Ron and Dean headed towards the Gryffindor table with Hermione tailing behind their back and scolding them furiously.

"What happened?" Asked Heidi when Hermione took her seat beside her.

"Malfoy just challenged Ron to a wizard's duel, and the idiot accepted" she said vexed.

"A wizards duel?! Is he mad!?" asked Heidi bewildered.

"I'd say he is," answered Diana while helping herself to a piece of treacle tart.

"They're fighting over _you_!" Hermione snapped. The piece of tart fell out of Diana's open mouth.

-----

Midnight slowly made its appearance, engulfing the castle grounds and walls in an unearthly shade of blue. The moon shining brightly in the sky made enough light so students could see perfectly from within their dorms without having to turn the lamp on or light their wands. Ron and Dean were still awake, patiently waiting for Seamus to fall asleep (Neville hadn't returned from the hospital wing).

"It's time," Dean muttered and slowly got to his feat.

Ron nodded and pulled out his wand from underneath his pillow.

The two boys slowly made their way towards the common room and were about to exit the portrait hole when a voice suddenly snapped.

"Were the hell do you think you're going?"

There was no mistaking that angry snarl.

"Diana," Ron turned to look at the girls. Her vivid face was visible even in the barely lit room. "We were-"

"Off to have a duel with Malfoy," Heidi voice startled the two boys. She was sitting quietly on an armchair and right next to her sat non other then Hermione Granger.

"_You_!" Ron snarled. "You told them didn't you?"

"And I nearly told your brother too," Hermione snapped. "Percy. He's a Prefect you know."

"I can't believe you're such a meddling-" Dean began to say but Heidi promptly cut him off.

"One more word out of your mouth," she pointed her wand threateningly at the boy, "and you'll be joining Neville in the hospital wing." Dean shut his mouth and remained silent for the rest of the talk.

Diana came to stand before Ron, her arms crossed over her chest and her eyes glaring daggers at the other boy. "What did Malfoy say to make you react so childishly?"

Ron fidget on the spot and lowered his eyes to the floor.

"_Well_," Diana snapped.

"He said that you were …" Ron whispered the last part and Diana didn't quite catch it even though she was standing mere inches away from him.

"He said what?" She asked confused.

"He said that you were crazy about him, and that he could do whatever he wanted with you," Ron said in a slight higher voice.

WHAM!

The portrait door swung open with such force that if the fat lady would have been in it, it would have definitely flatted her against the wall. Diana stormed out of the common room determined to kill that little pointed faced bastard, she didn't even realized as she walked over Neville and nearly sent the boy back to the hospital wing.

"Diana," Neville cried.

"Neville? What are you doing here?" Hermione asked.

"Oh, hello Hermione, Heidi. I forgot the password to enter the common room and was stuck waiting out here for hours. Can you two tell me what it is?"

"The password is 'Pig snout'," said Hermione she turned to the portrait of the fat lady, but found to her displeasure that she was gone. "Great, just great!"

"Neville, you wait here and when the fat lady gets back, remember the password is 'Pig snout!' Say it and get back in, we've got to catch up with Diana," said Heidi, then she and Hermione took their leave.

"Wait, don't leave me here," cried Neville and rushed after them.

The three hurriedly made their way down towards the third floor expecting to get caught at every corner they turned, but it seemed lady luck was with them tonight as they reached the trophy room safe and sound. Diana was pacing in the middle of the room, looking like she'd like nothing more then to hex someone into the next millennia and the other three occupant of the room wisely decided to not disturbed her.

The minutes went by with no sight whatsoever of Malfoy and Crabbe and Diana's temper wasn't going down, neither was Heidi's extra charged magic, courtesy of her stupid wand. She started pacing the room as well and scanning the trophies around.

"Diana look! There's a trophy here with our dad's name," Heidi exclaimed. Hermione, Diana and Neville rushed towards her to get a glimpse at the trophy.

"It's for Quidditch," Diana marveled. "Well, well. Looks like that _playing tag on a cleaning broom_ sport runs through the family," she gave her sister a cheeky grin and Heidi proceeded to scowl at her.

"Quidditch isn't played on a cleaning broom," Neville said indignantly. "You might mock it now, but wait till the Quidditch season starts, then you'll understand why it's so popular among wizards."

"I think I understand," said Heidi pensively. "It really is a wonderful feeling, flying high into the sky, the wind rushing madly through your hair, and there's a fell of freedom up there that you can't really feel on the ground." She sighed. "If it wasn't for the fact that it was dawn right humiliating to ride a broom, I'd be glad I made the team."

"You made the team?" Neville asked stunned. "You must be the youngest player in…"

"Over a century," she answered. "Wood told me as means of cheering me up." Heidi tore her eyes from her father's award and began inspecting the other trophies in the room.

"Look," Hermione cried. "Charles Shrewd! He was the one who invented a charm that was said to be able to fend off the most purest of evil, what was its name?"

"Hermione, you really need to lay down on the reading," Heidi commented.

"How come?" Hermione asked slightly annoyed.

"It's not good for you," Heidi said and stopped in front of a large and shiny golden cup. "Tri-Wizard Tournament? What's that?" Hermione and Neville both came to inspect the cup.

"Haven't heard of it," Hermione said.

Diana was inspecting the trophies on the other side and came across an interesting name. "Tom Marvolo Riddle," she smiled slightly. "Riddle? That has got to be the coolest name I've ever seen. Thomas, Tommy, Thomson. Marvolo," she scowled. "I don't like that, but Tom Riddle is just too cute," she grinned slightly.

A noise in the next room made them jump. Diana and the others hid behind a trophy ready to hex whoever it was that came into the room and that is exactly what they did.

No sooner that the shape opened the door did the Flipendo spells hit it square in the chest and he was pushed backwards. A cat like screech echoed in the silent room and the voice of the hexed man shouted. "How dare you!" and it wasn't Malfoy's voice.

"How dare you raise your wands at me!" It was Filche's voice!

Heidi promptly grabbed her sister and motioned for the other two to follow her. They exited through the back door just as Filch came running in the front one, swearing he wound catch them if it were the last thing he'd do.

Neville let out a squeak of horror and dashed forward running clumsily straight into a suit of armor that made enough raked to wake the whole castle.

"RUN!" Diana shouted and the four kids sprinted madly down the corridor, through tapestries, doors, and hidden passageways trying to get as far away from Filch as possible. They came to a halt in front of what looked like the Charms classroom and crashed on the floor, certain they were miles from the trophy room at least.

"I think we lost him," said Hermione between heavy pants.

"I can't run another meter," Neville whined and sunk down on the marble floor.

"It's clear that Malfoy wanted to get Ron in trouble," said Heidi bitterly. "The annoying little coward wasn't planning on showing up."

"I'll kill him tomorrow," Diana swore vehemently.

"Let's get back to Gryffindor tower before we run into more trouble," Hermione said, but they did run into more trouble. Peeves the poltergeist had stepped out of a class room and gave a squeak of delight when his wicked little eyes landed on them.

"Shut up Peeves," Diana ordered.

"Wandering around at midnight, Ickle Firsties? Tut, tut, tut. Naughty, naughty, you'll get caughty."

"Not if you don't give us away, Peeves, please," said Hermione.

"Should tell Filch, I should," said Peeves in a saintly voice, but his eyes glittered wickedly. "It's for your own good, you know."

"And it would be for _your_ own good to keep that big fat mouth of your shut," Heidi snarled in a deadly quiet voice.

Peeves apparently hadn't noticed her, because when he heard her voice, he jumped five feet into the air and his expression turned into something acing to pure terror, but then it changed into one of pure delight.

"STUDENTS OUT-" he started saying but Heidi anticipated this and hexed him right through a wall, and unluckily through a suit of armor which made enough racket to wake up the dead.

The kids sprinted down the corridor and came across a door at the end which was locked.

"Alohomora!" Hermione whispered and the door gave a soft click announcing it was opened. The kids dashed inside just as they heard Filch's mumbling voice draw near.

"Which way did they go, Peeves?" Filch was saying. "Quick, tell me."

"Say 'please.'"

"Don't mess with me, Peeves, now where did they go?"

"Shan't say nothing if you don't say please," said Peeves in his annoying singsong voice.

"All right, _please_."

"NOTHING! Ha haaa! Told you I wouldn't say nothing if you didn't say please! Ha ha! Haaaaaa!" Peeves whooshed away and a few enraged curses from Filch later, the corridor was engulfed in silence. Only then did the girls realize Neville had been whimpering and pulling on Hermione's sleeve for over a minute now.

"What's wrong Neville?" She asked and turned around to look at him. Her breath caught in her throat when she saw what was on the other side. The other two girls turned sharply and dawn right stared at the thing that was in front of them.

They were looking in the eyes of what seemed to be and enormous dog, that reached out to the ceiling and supported three heads on its shoulders. The vicious beast was snarling and growling madly at them, its teeth bared in a threatening manor, its eyes narrowed dangerously with saliva sliding down from its yellow like fangs.

Hermione reached for the doorknob and sprinted out the door, Neville and Heidi weren't far behind.

"Where's Diana?" Heidi asked in a panicked voice. Hermione and Neville stopped in their tracks and turned to scan the corridor for the girl. Diana was nowhere in sight. A sickening feeling of dread filled Heidi as she turned her eyes towards the door where they knew that the three headed beast lay.

"You don't think…?" Hermione asked following Heidi's glare.

"She can't be…" Neville said in a scared voice.

Heidi cautiously approached the door, felling her heart climb upper and upper until it came to rest in her throat, forming a rather tight notch there that refused to let her breath properly. She was just a few inches from the door when she heard a strange kind of moan coming from the other side of the door. She tightened her hold on her wand and tore the door open ready to kill the stupid beast if she had to but what she encountered at the other side made her stand numbly in the door way. Both Hermione and Neville were equally stunned to see the giant three headed dog on its knees waving his tail madly and looking positively adorable and Diana, a few strides away, patting the ferocious beast on the head.

"Poor thing, how dare they leave you locked in her all by yourself," she was saying affectionately as she continued to stroke the dog's head. "Oh, hi guys! Want to play with Fluffy?"

Heidi didn't know why she was so surprised. It was commonly known that Diana could tame every bloody creature on the planet. She remembered the time when the neighbors across from them had a vicious little bulldog that would gladly bit Dudley knowing he would get a beating after, but acted just like an innocent puppy towards Diana.

"Fluffy, eh?"

------

The kids managed to get back in Gryffindor tower sometimes near the early hours of morning. Fluffy as it turned out loved Diana about as much as a cat would love a ball of wool, and he was quite friendly to the other children when she was around. They honestly had no idea why the dog was there (the corridor was nothing special, only a bunch of classes here and there), that up until Hermione noticed a trap door underneath the dog's paw. Fluffy (that was the only name he responded to), had vehemently refused to let them see what was on the other side, no mater what you did, something that made Heidi and Hermione quite suspicious and they started theorizing about the attack that occurred on Gringotts and the trap door. Now the two wanted to go and question Hagrid, but unfortunately, it seemed that for a corridor out of boundaries it got plenty of visitors at night. They sat and played with Fluffy as they waited for Filch, then Quirrell and then Snape to pass before they finally made their way back to bed.

------

In response to your reviews:

To **EJ**: Heidi and Diana are not gonna be anything like Harry, I can assure you. The boy crazy stuff was actually Diana's way of pissing off Dudley, you'll see in later chapters. Mrs. Norris isn't gonna be that important, it's just Diana's nature to be good to animals, as I've said time and time again, she is quite obsessed with them. And thank you for the review!

To **trail**: Thank you for pointing out those mistakes, I appreciate that and I've corrected them. Hope you like it from now on too!

To **Silent-Falls**: Thanks for the review!

To **????**: Thanks for the review!

To **LivingInTheClouds**: thanks for the review!

**PS**: I'd really appreciate it if you guys signed in so that I can send you a reply by mail, but if you don't, that's no biggy, since I'll just reply to them like this.


	7. Chapter 7

**AN**: Hello there, kamuinoyume here, just wanted to thank everyone for the reviews and favorites this story has received and I'd like to clarify some misunderstandings: **Neither Heidi or Diana are female versions of Harry**! They might be his sisters in some parallel universe or such, but not his female selves. With that out of the way, enjoy your chapter.

**Chapter 7: Troll for Treat**

True to her word, Diana hexed Malfoy into the next Millennia the following morning. Crabbe and Goyle got their share from Hermione and Heidi who wanted some sort of vengeance for the events of last night themselves. But that wasn't the only thing on the girls' mind. Fluffy and the trap door confused the girls to no end; so, the next morning, Heidi had sent a message to Hagrid asking him if they could drop by his house one of these days, something which pleased the enormous man and Diana as well, because Hagrid promised to have a surprise waiting for them.

To the girl's dismay the journey to Hagrid's house had to be postponed seeing as Heidi was finally going to start her Quidditch practice.

The very same day after the girls got the owl from Hagrid, an enormously large package dropped right in front of Heidi splattering food all over the place, and right on top of it landed a small letter.

Heidi glared furiously at the package while whipping soup off her blouse.

"What a lovely way to start the morning," she commented drily after she read the letter. She passed the note to Diana and Hermione who gave her a sympathetic smile.

Heidi grabbed her new _cleaning broom_ (no matter what name you gave it, it was still a f#%$ing broom!) and stormed out of the Great Hall with Diana and Hermione walking silently behind her. She hid the broom under her bed and chose to ignore it for the rest of the day, though when nighttime finally came, she had no other choice then to take it out and head down towards the Quidditch pitch. Hermione and Diana tagged along to give her support, but only managed to make things worse as they kept berating about how stupid the game was, but they couldn't help marveling at the sight when they stepped inside the stadium.

The hundred or so seats were raised high up into the air so that the people could see what was going on. At either end of the field stood three gold pools with hoops at the end. Wood was standing somewhere near the middle of the field, on either side of him stood the Weasley twins (which were proudly dressed in scarlet attires), three girls stood at the left of one of the twins and a large wooden box was sitting on the ground.

"We'll go and sit in the stands," said Hermione then she and Diana headed for the stairs that lead towards the seats.

"Hey, Potter! Glad to see you could make it," said Wood cheerfully then turned to introduce the other people on the field.

"I believe you've already met the Weasley twins, they're our Beaters," he pointed towards Fred and George who were scrutinizing the package in her hand.

"You still haven't opened it yet," one of them cried in outrage.

"If it were _me_, I'd of skipped classes and went straight to the pitch to have a go on it," the other added.

"Well, since you're clearly _not_ me, I'd appreciate it if you would reframe from making such comments," Heidi snapped and unfolded the broom. She stood glaring at it.

_This can't be used for cleaning_, she thought. The tail was made of twigs that looked like they were glued together, with a mahogany handle that was as tall as her, and near the top there proudly stood written Nimbus Two Thousand in gold. The surrounding kids looked at it in aw.

"A Nimbus Two Thousand?" cried one of the twins.

"You kept a Nimbus Two Thousand wrapped in a package for the whole bloody day?" said the other in outrage.

"What were you thinking?" They both asked in unison.

"What's so impressive about a broom like this, it would be terrible for cleaning," Heidi said scowling at the broom.

The other children burst into fits of laughter.

"That's not used for cleaning," said Wood when he managed to compose himself. "That's used for playing Quidditch."

Heidi still looked doubtfully at the broom but shrugged it off and turned expectantly towards the group of girls.

"Heidi Potter," she introduced. "And you are?"

"Angelina Johnson," a black heir, chocolate skinned girl said. "I'm one of the three chasers."

"Katy Bell," a brown eyed girl which had her long brown hair wrapped in a ponytail said, "also a chaser."

"Alicia Spinnet," said the finally girl who had, short and spiky jet-black hair and milky white skin, "chaser."

"Is there a reason why no boys are chasers?" Heidi asked with a raised brow.

"No, that's just the way the tryouts concluded this year," Wood answered. "So, let me explain the rules."

"How bout you just hand me over the Snitch and be done with it," Heidi said and mounted her broom. "My sister's watching and I don't want to risk getting photographed on this dang thing."

"You know the rules?" Wood asked questioningly.

"Yes. You are going to be there at the goal post, trying to keep the opposed team players from scoring, those three are going to be playing Muggle football with a red ball and those two are going to be beating around a pair of demented balls while I will be chasing a tiny little golden ball, which can sometimes be silver or bronze, is that about right."

"Yes it is," Wood said with a slight chuckle. "But I wanted to start testing you with ordinary balls so as to-"

"Stop your yapping and give me that stupid Snitch!"

Wood's lips twitched slightly and he went towards the wooden box. "Have it your way," he said and let the tiny golden ball lose which zoomed around a bit and then soared towards the sky.

Heidi kicked off from the ground the moment the tiny ball began its ascend towards the heavens and rocketed towards it at top speed. It was amazing. The wind was wiping at her face, watering her eyes and blowing madly in her ears, making it impossible to hear anything from the people below. The adrenalin was rushing through her veins like mad, the feeling of freedom overtook her and she gave herself away to the speed of the broom, letting it go faster and faster until, WHAM! She went into a dive and her hand closed firmly around the tiny ball then she turned a spectacular 180 degree and lifted the tiny ball towards the sun, staring mesmerized at the little bugger.

"Great jog!" Wood's shouting voice dragged her attention towards the other players. They were all mounted on their brooms (looking as ridiculous as Heidi would imagine she herself looked right about now), and clapping enthusiastically.

"That was magnificent," one of the twins began.

"Outstanding," the other said.

"Spectacular!"

"One of a kind!"

"Perfect!"

"Bloody freaking Perfect!"

Heidi flushed slightly and said: "It wasn't that good," then let go of the Snitch and zoomed of to chase it again as the others began their practice as well.

"She looks… happy," Diana commented from somewhere in the stands.

"I agree," Hermione said. "And she doesn't look that bad on a broom."

"No," Diana conceded. "It's actually kind of… fitting."

Hermione nodded her head in agreement.

"I want to learn how to fly," Diana blurred out as she watched Heidi make another spectacular dive and catch the Snitch for what must have been the tenth time. She released it and closed her eyes, giving it some time to fly away.

"I thought you were scared of flying," Hermione said.

"I _am_ scared of flying," Diana assured. "But… it's always hard to see my sister looking like that, like she's an ordinary eleven year old. She's always so tough and mature; it's really a treat to see her smiling so carefree. The same goes for you." She turned her head towards Hermione.

"Me?" Hermione asked puzzled. "I can act my age when I want," she said and turned her head towards Heidi who was apparently chasing thin air. She giggled slightly. It was really stupid, the game, but strangely fascinating. "I don't want to learn how to fly," she finally said. "But I like watching other people fly."

"Maybe that goes for me to," Diana mussed.

-------

"That Quidditch Cup'll have our name on it this year," said Wood happily as he headed back towards the castle. The other players were right behind him, chatting animatedly while Heidi was hanging in the back together with Hermione and her sister looking positively pissed. The other two girls were desperately trying to muffle their laughter, but then the image of Heidi being dragged off the Quidditch pitch bride style by Wood popped in their heads and they only managed to laugh harder.

"Thank you very much for the support," said Heidi venomously.

"Hey, you can't blame it on us," Diana protested. "He was the one who force-dragged you out of the air." She pointed at Wood and then muffled a laugh. The other players had stopped in their track and were grinning broadly at her.

"I suppose you've changed your mind about Quidditch," asked Angelina.

"It's not that bad," Heidi admitted with a slight embarrassed blush. "But I still think it's down right humiliating to ride a broom," she added stubbornly.

"Funny you should say that, when mere minutes ago we were struggling to get you off one," Katy said with a large smirk.

Heidi only managed to blush harder and stuck out her tongue at her.

"Hey! Stop picking on my sister," Diana joked.

"Don't mind the girls," Wood waved a dismissive hand. "They're just happy that we actually have a chance at winning this year's cup. Now remember we have practice every Monday, Saturday and Friday," Wood reminded Heidi and then disappeared through the front doors along with the other team players.

Heidi sighed in defeat. "Well, at least it's not _that_ bad."

-------

Time at Hogwarts flew by fast for the girls what with all the homework and Heidi's three times a week Quidditch practice. Diana soon became bored of watching her sister fly around the pitch and forced Hermione to sign up with her for the school coir. Flitwich (who was conducting the coir), was delighted to get new members. Practices were held three times a week around the same time Heidi's Quidditch practice was, so the three girls were to preoccupied to miss one another or remember about Hagrid or the trap door and Fluffy, the three headed dog that was guarding it.

Halloween finally arrived and the girls couldn't believe they had been at Hogwarts for two months, and Diana couldn't believe she had forgotten about writing to her parents. Professor Flitwich decided it was high time they learned how to perform the levitating charm, something that the children (minus Heidi), had all been dying to learn since they saw the teacher make Neville's toad zoom around the classroom. Flitwich split them up in pairs to practice. Heidi was paired up with Neville and was struggling to try and teach the boy how to cast the charm, Diana was paired with Lavender Brown and were gossiping rather then working, but Hermione got the misfortune of being paired up with Ronald Weasley.

The professor began talking about hand movements and a certain Wizard Baruffio who had apparently mispronounced a spell. Heidi and Diana had long since cast the charm earning five points for Gryffindor each and were shooting worried looks in Hermione's direction while trying to teach their partners how to perform the charm.

"Wingardium Leviosa!" Ron shouted, waving his long arms like a windmill.

"You're saying it wrong," Hermione snapped. "It's Wing-_gar_-dium Levi-o-sa; make the 'gar' nice and long."

"You do it, then, if you're so clever," Ron snarled.

"Wingardium Leviosa!" Hermione chanted and the feather flew high towards the ceiling. She turned to give Ron a pointed look and said "Your turn," when the feather landed gently on the desk.

Ron was in a very foul mood by the end of the class.

"She's a nightmare," he was saying to Seamus and Dean as they were making their way through the crowded corridor. "How can you expect to do anything with her breathing down your shoulder, I can't imagine how someone could stand being in her company without feeling the need to strangle-"

WHAM!

A book slammed hard into Ron's head making the boy fall straight on his nose.

"Did you say something Weasley?" Diana snarled looking murderous. Her nostrils flared and her cheeks were redder then Ron's hair as she stood there towering over the boy, the charms book threateningly held in her hands ready for another strike. Dean and Seamus squashed themselves against the wall the moment she appeared besides them and Ron was able to see that Heidi (who had a murderous expression on her face to rival Diana's) and Hermione (whose eyes were glittering with tears), were sitting a few strides behind them.

Ron was actually at a loss as to what to do. He had heard about Malfoy and his two day trip to the hospital wing and was definitely not eager to follow his footsteps. He was spared the humiliation however when Hermione decided to run off in the opposite direction. Heidi chased after her and Diana left to, but not before giving Ron one last hateful glare.

Ron sighed in relief and started rubbing at his injured head.

"Man that girl's a monster," he said and Seamus and Dean couldn't help but agree.

------

The Potter twins chased after Hermione up until she reached the bathroom and locked herself in one of the square cubicles.

"Mione, what do you think you're doing in there?" asked Diana when she entered the bathroom. She was quite displeased and regretted she didn't hit that git harder when she heard the weeping sounds that were coming from Hermione.

"Hey! Don't take what that idiot said to heart! Look at you! You've got friends standing up for you while those two guys that git calls _friends_ ran like cowards when he was in trouble," Diana shouted through the door, but Hermione gave her no answer.

"Ah! Heidi! Say something!" Diana snapped at her sister who was sitting on a sink mussing to herself.

"Herms," Heidi finally decided to speak up after a few minutes. "Do you like Ronald Weasley?"

Silence followed her question. Diana had a god-smacked expression carved on her face and no sound at all was coming from Hermione's hiding place.

"Are you MAD?!" Diana exclaimed. "Seriously sis, Mione, like the _Weasley git_! Did you even think before you asked that question?" she asked outraged.

"Actually, I thought about it long and hard," Heidi explained. "And it's been bugging me for quite some time now." She jumped off the sink and made her way toward Hermione's door. "Herms, if you like that…person, and I so hope you don't, I'd suggest you try getting his attention through other means that don't involve studying."

Diana was still looking doubtfully at her sister, but to her surprise Hermione did answer. "Like what?! I've tried helping him stay out of trouble, helping him learn, I've even tried being friendly towards him but it just doesn't work! Nothing works!" Hermione really started crying this time.

Diana looked in shock at the door that was hiding her bushy haired friend. "How did you know?" she asked her sister.

"A hunch I guess," Heidi answered. "Herms, you _have to _get over this! There's other fish in the sea!"

"I know," Hermione's tear filled voice answered. "But why does he have to be so mean all the time!"

Diana's temper was rapidly making its way towards the surface again, and this time it was directed towards her bushy haired friend. She strolled over towards the door that was hiding her cry-baby friend, and gently pushed her sister aside, only to knock the door down in one blow, startling her twin and Hermione to death.

"Now listen here you!" she boomed. "Drowning in self pity is never gonna get you anywhere! If the git doesn't like you I say screw him! And make him regret the day he decided to turn you down!" Diana grabbed Hermione's quivering hand and forcefully-dragged her out of the now ruined cubical. "And don't worry, we'll find you a new boyfriend who's worth ten times that Weasley git is!"

"Diana, you're scaring her," Heidi said and tried to pull Hermione from Diana's iron grip.

"Nonsense! This fish is gotta get over her abandoned at the shore complex and jump back into the ocean! And of course get revenge on that slimy, stinking idiot," she added in a mischievous voice.

"And how exactly do you expect me to do that?" asked Hermione.

Diana turned to give her a rather nasty smile. "Oh, you'll see."

She dragged the two girls all the way up to Gryffindor tower (stopping to pick up Lavender and Parvati along the way), where she barricaded herself and the four in the girls' first year dorms.

"Ok ladies, listen up," Diana was saying. "We have a very special mission on our hands today and that is, to make this girl pretty," she pointed at Hermione who started squirming as she took in the excited expressions written across Lavender, Parvati and Diana's faces (Heidi was giving her a regretful smile).

For the rest of the day, the four girls made Hermione try about a hundred dresses and suits, arranged her hair into ten thousand ways and painted her face in just as many shaped and forms. Sometime before the start of the Halloween feast the girls finally nodded their consent on her appearance, and thank the heavens, stopped fussing over her.

"She's beautiful!" Lavender said.

"Gorgeous!" Parvati exclaimed.

"Perfect!" Diana cheered and Heidi nodded her approval.

They had settled for black knee level pants (because Hermione dawn right refused to wear a skirt), and a white V-neck shirt with small cap sleeves decorated with different colored spots. Her hair was now neatly kempt in delicate wave like curves; her eyes were painted in an almost unremarkable red like color and her lisp were drenched in pink colored lipstick.

"Seriously, pink?" She asked the girls.

"Red doesn't fit you," Lavender commented.

"You look gorgeous, so who cares," said Diana. "Now let's get going before we miss the feast!"

Getting Hermione out of the room was not an easy task. She refused to let the teachers see her with make-up all over her face and stubbornly held on to the bed handle even when all the girls grabbed her and tried to pull her out. She relented in the end when Heidi started tickling her.

"I am dying to see the look on Weasley's face," Diana said in a cruel tone.

"Wait a second! You mean we did all _that_ just to impress Weasley?" Lavender asked horrorstruck.

"You actually like Weasley?" Asked a shocked Parvati Patil.

"No," Diana answered. "We did all of that to _annoy_ Weasley _and_ hook up Mione here with some other hot guy we find tonight."

"Oh, then count me in," said Lavender merrily.

"Me too," agreed Parvati. Hermione and Heidi exchanged worried looks.

"What do you think about that Ravenclaw boy, you know, the one with the earring, or the blond in Hufflepuff?" Lavender was saying as they rounded a corner.

The girls were suddenly attacked by an unearthly stanch that had them almost fainting. Right in front of them sat and enormous creature with gray colored skin and hairless head. Its legs were small and thick as a tree trunk and he was carrying a wooden club in one hand.

They stood there looking up at its coconut shaped head while it too was looking dumbly down at them.

"Troll," said Hermione and Heidi at the same time, and that seemed to snap them all back into motion. The girls gave a high pitched scream before scrambling away in the opposite direction while the smelly beast banged his club viciously and started chasing after them.

The girls ran down the corridor up until the paths spilt where Lavender and Parvati went right and the twins and Hermione darted for the left turn. The troll as it seems decided to go after Lavender and Parvati rather then the other three.

The two girls ran with all their might up until they saw an open door and slipped inside. It was Moaning Mirtle's bathroom.

Mirtle was the spirit of a girl who had died at Hogwarts and stayed to haunt the place. She wasn't very friendly and always thought someone had an ulterior motive (other then to use the toilet), for walking into her bathroom, so people usually tried to avoid going in at all cost, but this was an emergency.

"Who are you?" Asked Mirtle startled.

"Hush, please Mirtle keep it down or the troll will hear-" Lavender tried to say but Mirtle seemed putout by her comment.

"Keep it down! KEEP IT DOWN! Don't you dare tell me to _keep it down_ in my own bathroom! I knew you were a bunch of-" whatever they were they didn't get to hear because in the next moment the entrance door was flung across the room and went right through Mirtle who turned enraged towards the perpetrator only to have her breath caught in her throat. "Oh," she said before diving in a toilet and out of sight.

The gigantic creature slowly made its way into the room and headed for the corner where the two girls were cowering in fright, its club raised high and ready to strike.

Heidi and Diana dashed through the door and cringed when they saw the troll so close to the other girls.

"No, you don't," Diana raged and made to run towards him but Heidi grabbed her.

"When I give you the signal, you get those two out of here. Flipendo!" she cried and a jet of red light darted towards the troll and hit him straight in the back, making him sway on the spot.

The gruesome creature turned its dumb eyes towards them and raised its gigantic club high into the air ready to strike.

"Now!" Heidi shouted and cast "LUMOS!" A brilliant white light that engulfed the whole room escaped from her wand and blinded the troll making it stumbled backwards and raise its gigantic arms to cover his eyes. Diana didn't waste a second. The moment the words were out of her sister's mouth she sprinted forward, grabbed the two girls by the sleeves and made a wild dash towards the door. Heidi wasn't far behind.

They heard the troll's angry guttural roar and a deafening crack that must have been some part of the wall breaking as the troll ran towards them. The gigantic footsteps echoed throughout the corridor and as the girls took a quick glance behind them they saw him running like a whiled bull up to strike the red flag.

The girls ran towards the stairs with the troll coming up fast behind them. They reached the stairs but unfortunately neither the steps towards the next or previous floor had arrived yet. Diana and Heidi didn't give it a second though as they jumped off the stairs. Lavender and Parvati stole a quick glance at the troll and jumped with a loud and ear hurting scream. Their scream grew louder when they saw the troll jump after them and took a desperate sort of tone when they saw the rapidly approaching ground. The girls closed their eyes waiting for the impact but it never came, instead they felt like they were slowing down until they came to a halt in mid air then something acing to an invisible force stirred them forwards. The girls slowly opened their eyes to meat the amused face of Professor Dumbledore, the vivid face of Professor McGonagall, the concerned face of Professor Flitwich and the impassive face of Severus Snape. Hermione, who had run off to call a teacher, was sitting a few strides away with a sickly looking Professor Quirrell.

A loud bang echoed in the background and the girls turned to see that the troll had not been so fortunate with his fall and was lying unconscious on the floor.

"What on earth were you thinking?" Minerva shrieked drawing the girls' attention back towards her.

"Not much, we had a troll on our back," said Diana but soon wished she hadn't as McGonagall's face twitched and her nostrils flared.

"Don't you dare be cheeky with me young lady! Not after this whole ordeal, "Minerva threatened.

"Come now, Minerva, as Miss Granger has so kindly explained, the girls had no idea that there was a troll in the castle, they just accidentally stumbled across him," said Dumbledore serenely. "I must however ask that you ladies make your way back to Gryffindor tower, I doubt our unexpected visitor will remain in dream-land much longer."

The girls took one last disgusted look at the troll and hurried up the steps wanting to put as much distance between themselves and the creature as possible.

When they reached Gryffindor tower they were delighted to find Ron Weasley gaping at Hermione open mouthed for the rest of the evening (as was mostly anybody in the room), but the girls dang right refused to let her go talk to that idiotic git, but instead dragged her towards a secluded corner where they had a quick meal and gossiped a bit about the evening's passing's then they hurried up the stairs and off to bed.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter ****8: Quidditch **

The Quidditch season had begun. Heidi had her first game on Saturday, and contrary to popular beliefs the approaching match scared her to no end. It didn't help much that the students were either assuring her she would be brilliant or down right horrible. The last-minute Quidditch practices and Diana and Hermione's nervous looks did nothing to improve her state of spirit, and little did Hermione know that her suggestion of reading _Quidditch Throughout the Ages_ had done more harm rather then good seeing as it specifically mentioned that Seekers were the most frequent targeted of the players and they actually had their own list for record injuries; on the top of the list there was one Marcus Sigmund who had suffered a number of 124 injuries in a match.

The Gryffindor common room was in uproar the night before the match; most of the kids were wishing the players good luck or just chatting animatedly with them. Heidi was pacing from one point to another and snapped at whoever dared to come within five feet of her so Hermione and Diana dragged her out for a night stroll throughout the corridors as an attempt to calm her down. They didn't have a destination in mind, so they let their feet wander off wherever they would as the three girls enjoyed the eerie quiet of the night.

The moon light creped through the enormous windows and bathed the marble floor in a magnificent shade of blue which reflected onto the walls; the chilling Autumn breeze was blowing softly, almost unnoticeably, throughout the deserted halls; the silence was absolute, almost holy, as if no one dared to disturbed the gentle calm of the place, not the portraits and definitely not the girls.

Slowly, but surely, Heidi felt herself engulfed in the same calmed state of mind in which the surrounding place was so perfectly shaped. She forgot all about the upcoming Quidditch match, about the homework they had to finish for the following week, about everything and just let her feet drag her where they may. The girls smiled slightly when they came to a halt before the Library door and moved on, letting their feet wonder deeper and deeper along the corridors, towards places they had never seen or hear of up until they came across a door which was slightly ajar. Knowing the old saying curiosity kills the cat only too well, but hardly giving a dang about it, the girls stepped inside.

It looked like an unused classroom. The desks and chairs were pilled up against the walls alongside some other things that were neatly arranged on top of them. The only peculiar thing about the room was a gigantic mirror, which looked completely out of place from the mere size of the thing to the very way that it was positioned, right in the center of the room.

The girls edged closer to the mirror and looked at it in aw. It was truly magnificent not just because of its size, but also because of the gold ornate frame and the two clawed feet on which it so neatly stood, not to mention the fact that it was crystal clean; but what drew the girls interest was the inscription carved around the top: _Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi_.

"What the hell does that mean?" Diana's confused voice cut through the silence like a knife and the other two girls turned to shush her up. "Sorry," she whispered.

"I bet it's a rune or a code," Hermione said in a soft voice.

"No," Heidi interrupted with an amused smile on her face. "Try reading it backwards," she suggested and the other two turned towards the writing and did just that.

"Is how no tyo…_not_ _your_… face but your hearts desire," Hermione tried.

"_I_ show no your face but your hearts desire," Heidi corrected.

"You're right," Hermione marveled. "How did you know that?" she asked puzzled.

"We used to play a lot with this kind of stuff when we were kids," Diana answered for her sister. "It was like a secret code to us that no one else would understand."

"But we didn't just write the words backwards, we also tried to separate the words so they would make sense if you read it like that," Heidi said, a trail of nostalgia engulfing her voice. "Whoever did this wasn't even trying." She scoffed disappointed.

"So, what, you think it really shows your heart's desire?" asked Diana doubtfully.

"Let's see," said Heidi and stepped in front of the mirror. She suddenly gave a slight yelp and turned briskly around startled then she turned back towards the mirror then did another back-flip before finally resting her eyes on the mirror, studying it intently.

"What do you see?" asked Hermione who edged a little closer hoping to get a glimpse of what had her friend so captivated, but was disappointed to see only her reflection.

"I see myself flying freely through the sky," Heidi whispered softly. "No stupid broom, just…me, flying, freely. No boundaries, no worries… just plain, old me."

"Let me try too," said Diana excited. Heidi took on last longing look at the scene before her and stepped aside to let Diana in front of the mirror.

"Wow!" Diana exclaimed looking delighted at the mirror. "It's me! I'm _beautiful_," she said in a tear-filled voice. "I'm rich! My husband is _so_ HOT! Oh, and I have two beautiful children; oh, they're so cute!"

Diana was gesturing animatedly in front of the mirror while Hermione and Heidi were trying hard not to burst out laughing somewhere near the side.

"So you want to become a house-wife?" asked Hermione in a slight giddy voice.

"No!" Diana snapped. "I want to be a respected lady of the high society! What's so wrong about that?!"

"Nothing sissy, now how bout you give Hermione a try too."

"Oh, fine! Spoilsport!" Diana scoffed but moved to the side to allow Hermione access to the mirror.

"Amazing!" Hermione marveled. "I can't believe it actually shows what you want the most!"

"And what might that be?" asked Diana conspirator.

"I'm working in the Ministry of Magic, head of a department, everybody likes me and I'm married to…Ronald Weasley…"

"WHAT?!" shrieked Diana. "Do you want me to kill you by any chance?" she asked looking murderous.

"No," Hermione jumped behind the mirror for cover. "I can't help how I feel you know!" Hermione said in her defense. "And Ron's stopped acting like a jerk since that Halloween night!"

"That doesn't mean _anything_!" shrieked Diana. "You are _not_ dating that guy!"

"She doesn't need your permission to date anyone," Heidi said. "And keep it down or Filch is gonna hear us!"

Diana gave her an angry glare but remained silent.

"I think it's high time we went back to Gryffindor tower," Hermione suggested and the girls nodded their agreement.

--------

The following morning was bright and chilly, but that didn't bother the kids in the great hall who were chatting animatedly about the upcoming Quidditch match, Gryffindor versus Slytherin.

"You've got to eat some breakfast," Hermione was whining at the Gryffindor table.

"You actually think I'll be able to stomach anything right about now?" Heidi asked sarcastically

"Well, no, but you have to eat something! Just a slice of bread and I'll be out of your hair," she pleaded.

"I wouldn't say no if I were you," said Diana.

"Yeah, Seekers are always the ones who get clobbered by the other team, you'll need to have some strength in you to fight back," said Parvati from across the table.

"Thanks Pav, you're a real charm," Heidi said bitterly.

By eleven o'clock the whole school had gathered in the Quidditch stands and was eagerly awaiting the start of the game.

Hermione and Diana were sitting in the East ham fan, up in the top row. Neville was sitting besides Diana and right besides him was non other then Ronald Weasley who was shooting regular glances in their direction; his two other friends were right next to him waving an enormous red flag which had _Potter for President_ engraved on it.

Meanwhile, in the locker room, Heidi and the rest of her team were changing into their red attires. Heidi scowled as she regarded herself in the mirror. She hated red!

Wood cleared his throat for silence.

"Okay, men," he said.

"And women," said Chaser Angelina Johnson.

"And women," Wood agreed. "This is it."

"The big one," said Fred Weasley.

"The one we've all been waiting for," said George.

"We know Oliver's speech by heart," Fred told Heidi, "we were on the team last year."

"Shut up, you two," said Wood. "This is the best team Gryffindor's had in years. We're going to win. I know it."

He glared at them all as if to say, "Or else." Heidi distantly wondered what he would do if they _did_ lose, but then cleared the thought out of her head.

"Right. It's time. Good luck, all of you."

Heidi walked out of the locker room feeling positively sick; the loud cheers and boos that were coming from the crowd made her more nervous then she had been in all her life.

Madam Hooch was refereeing. She stood in the middle of the field waiting for the two teams, her broom in her hand.

"Now, I want a nice fair game, out of all of you," she said, once they were all gathered around her. Heidi noticed she gave a rater sharp look in the Slytherin team Captain's direction and took some time to study him a bit. He had short black hair and mischievous looking eyes and the sheer size of him made Heidi think he might be distant related to some troll family. He held himself in a rather pompous and mocking manor and the way he shock hands with Wood, as if to break the bone, guaranteed Heidi he wasn't gonna play a _nice_ and _fair_ game.

"Mount your brooms, please," said Madam Hooch in a loud tome, bringing Heidi back to reality. She mounted her broom ready to kick off — indifferent of the fact that she didn't want to play this stupid game, now that she _had_ to, she was definitely going to win.

As soon as Madam Hooch gave a loud blast on her silver whistle the player kicked off the ground and started soaring off high into the air.

"And the Quaffle is taken immediately by Angelina Johnson of Gryffindor — what an excellent Chaser that girl is, and rather attractive, too —"

"JORDAN!"

"Sorry, Professor."

The Weasley twins' friend, Lee Jordan, was doing the commentary for the match, closely watched by Professor McGonagall.

_Poor bloke_, Heidi thought as she watched Alicia Spinnet receive the ball and speed up towards the goal posts. Now that she thought about it, this was the first time she saw her team playing (at practice she was always to busy chasing after the Snitch to care), and now that she took a closer look at them… they still looked dawn right _ridiculous_ riding those brooms!

As the Bludger knocked hard into Katy's back and sent her spinning sideways, Heidi was suddenly reminded why she wanted to get this match over and done with, seeing as she was the Seeker and Bludgers would be flying her way soon enough.

Heidi stopped following the match and concentrated on finding the Snitch, she distinctly heard when Jordan announced the first goal of the game and the Gryffindor stands erupting in cheers and remembered that her sister was watching together with Hermione — one more reason she didn't want to get hurt in this match, Diana would be a wreaking mess if something happened to her.

"Budge up there, move along."

"Hagrid!" Diana exclaimed. "I'm glad that you came to watch the match!"

"Couldn't miss yer sister's first match now could I," Hagrid said as he took a seat between Ron and Neville, much to Diana's delight, because she couldn't see Ron thanks' to Hagrid's enormous size.

"Bin watchin' from me hut," said Hagrid, patting a large pair of binoculars around his neck, "But it isn't the same as bein' in the crowd. No sign of the Snitch yet, eh?"

"No," said Diana, "but Hagrid, what on earth would you be able to see from your hut through those?" She asked pointing at the binoculars.

"They're charmed," was Hermione's blunt reply.

Diana nodded while giving a frustrated sigh, it was sometimes hard to get used to hearing magical solutions to every freaking problem on the planet. _At least they can't bring back the dead_, she thought bitterly.

"A' least yer sisters' staying out o' trouble," said Hagrid while peering through his binoculars at Heidi.

Way up in the sky, a good five meters above the other player's heads, Heidi was looking rather bored. She had see the Slytherin Seeker circle the place, but seeing as the Snitch had past by him more then once and the bumbling idiot hadn't even noticed she wasn't to worried over the outcome of the game, she however was getting tired of sitting around waiting for the annoying bugger to show itself again and was seriously considering ignoring Wood's stupid plan. It sounded something like this:

"Keep out of the way until you catch sight of the Snitch. We don't want you attacked before you have to be."

_Yeah_, that _was encouraging_, she thought sarcasm clear in her inner voice. She wasn't too keen on getting herself hurt, no-freaking-way, but the most interesting thing that happened around her was a Bludger randomly lashing out at her, and that was easy to avoid. So, if Bludgers were the only thing that could harm her down there, why was she still sitting up here waiting like a dove perched on top of a tree branch? She honestly had no idea.

She was still contemplating on whetted to go down and knock someone off their broom as she saw a Slytherin chaser (Pucey was it?), rocked towards the goal posts while dodging two Bludgers and Katy, he was nearly at the goal post when Jordan yelled: "Was that the Snitch?"

Pucey dropped the Quaffle (idiot!), and looked over his shoulder. Heidi saw what Jordan had meant and knew it wasn't the Snitch, but the other Seeker didn't and made a whiled dash for it while Heidi rocketed down and caught the Quaffle and darted for the goal posts. She clearly heard Wood screaming at her to go after the Snitch but when the Slytherin Seeker (Terence Higgs) stopped in mid air and looked confused around the pitch Wood understood they had been had (it seemed Jordan was playing dirty), and Heidi was already at the goal post. She threw the Quaffle and scored before the Slytherin Keeper could process what had happened.

"And another spectacular goal for Gryffindor by our newly assigned Seeker," Jordan announced proudly.

Heidi turned around and smirked in Higgs's face who was looking lethal.

"Chasing thin air are we? Look's like someone forgot his binoculars at home," she teased but her fun was short lived as Wood started screaming at her.

"Get back up there Potter," he bellowed clearly mad about something. But he didn't have time to chastise her any longer as Flinch was coming at him like an enraged bull, dodging Bludgers and players along the way.

Heidi too became the target of the Slytherin Beaters within seconds. She immediately had to jump to the side as a Bludger came dangerously close to strike her on the head, and then the left as the other Beater hurtled the Bludger back at her. The two were zigzagging around her like annoying little flies that came to stand on your nose while you were trying to sleep. She decided that if they so wanted to play dirty she would as well, not that she hadn't up until now, but…wait a second, was Wood mad at her for playing dirty? She pondered on it while dodging another Bludger and concluded she didn't really care much and so went on with her plan.

She slowly, but surely made her way to her least favorite player of the lot, Marcus Flint, and started circling above him waiting for him to make his move. And there it was! He was in possession of the Quaffle again and was heading towards the goal post. She stopped in mid air, a few strides ahead of Flint, waiting for the Beaters to through the Bludger, and they most certainly didn't disappoint her. The ball was hurtled at her with enough speed to break the whole boons in one's body, luckily she jumped out of the way, but Flint wasn't so lucky, and he received a good smack over the right arm and dropped the Quaffle while his broom went spinning madly towards the left.

The two Beaters looked pale as ghosts as the Slytherin stands erupted in howls of boo and protest.

Heidi was about to throw a few well deserved insults at the Slytherin Beaters when she saw it! The golden Snitch was spinning innocently a few strides away. She could reach it before anyone would be the wisest! She was preparing to speed up towards it when her broom suddenly gave a violent jerk and lung her towards the left and away from the Golden Snitch. It started slowly climbing upwards without Heidi's permission.

"What the _hell_ do you think you're doing?!" She was screaming at the broom. She knew that was ridiculous, but it just didn't want to listen to any of her commands. It went higher and higher and slowly leaned towards the left and away from the Snitch though the tiny golden ball seemed to be following her. Now that was ironic, the Snitch wanted her to catch it, but the broom didn't.

She gave one last desperate look towards the Snitch which was still edging closer and said: "Screw you!" and she jumped off the broom.

Diana screamed along with most of the girls in the stadium while Snape, who had been closely watching the girl, held his breath and stood up in his seat followed shortly by McGonagall who had her hands clapped over her mouth. Fred and George forgot about the Bludgers entirely and rocketed towards her, Wood and the rest of the Gryffindor chasers dropped what they were doing and speed up towards Heidi.

_Just a little closer_, Heidi thought as she saw the golden ball rapidly approach her. She stretched out her hand just as she felt the Weasley twins grab on to her other hand and pull her up on one of their broom.

"What in Merlin's name were you-"

Whatever Fred or George was about to say died in his throat as Heidi hurtled her right hand in which the golden Snitch was securely held in his face.

"You caught the Snitch?!" One of the twins exclaimed disbelievingly.

"She caught the Snitch!" The two scream at the others while enveloping Heidi in a bear hug and giving her a dozen kisses on the cheek.

"POTTER CAUGHT THE SNITCH!" Lee Jordan exclaimed cheerfully. "GRYFFINDOR WINS!"

"That little bitch!" Flint was still howling twenty minutes after the game was over and shouting at his two Beaters who were cowering at his bedside in the hospital wing, while Heidi was suffering her own rows of shouts in Hagrid's hut. Hermione and Diana hadn't stopped screaming since they had reached her on the Quidditch pitch.

"You could have died!" Hermione screeched.

"What if the Weasley twins hadn't caught you in time?!" Diana raged.

"What the HELL were you THINKING!!" They both bellowed.

"Will you two stop it already! I'm fine," snapped Heidi finally having enough of the two's shouts.

"You just don't care do you?" Diana asked accusingly. "You don't care that I nearly had a panic attack up there while you were falling like the no-brained bolder-head that you are!"

"If my broom would have listened to me I wouldn't have had to jump off it!" Heidi said vexed.

"Wait a minute, what do you mean your broom didn't listen to you?" asked Hermione perplexed.

"Didn't you see it," Heidi said incredulously. "It was soaring higher and no matter what I did it wouldn't listen to me! Do you actually think I'd be stupid enough to jump off it if it would have listened to me?" she asked outraged.

"Yeah, I saw it," said Hagrid. "It did look like you was hav'n some trouble up t'ere."

"Oh, you have no idea," Heidi sighed. "But anyways, Quidditch aside, Hagrid, we've been meaning to ask you something."

"We have?" asked a confused looking Diana.

"Yes," hissed Heidi in her direction. "We wanted to ask you about this really cute three headed dog we met on the third floor corridor."

"Oh!" A spark of recognition seemed to draw on Diana's face and she turned her sparkling hazel eyes on Hagrid. "He's so sweet! Is he yours?"

"How do you know about Fluffy?" Hagrid said.

"Fluffys' his name? No wonder he only answered to that name," mused Diana.

"We found him a few months ago when we had a fight with Malfoy," answered Hermione.

"Yes, the sight of him was quite worth nearly getting caught by Filch," said Heidi.

"Where'd you get him?" asked Diana.

"I bought him off a Greek chappie I met in the pub las' year, I lent him to Dumbledore to guard the —"

"Yes," said Hermione eagerly.

"Now, don't ask me anymore," said Hagrid gruffly. "That's top secret, that is."

"The what?" asked Heidi sharply. "You don't trust us enough to tell? And just when I was starting to see you as a friend."

"I am yer friend 'Eidi," said Hagrid kindly. "But what that dog' gardin' is non o' yer business! Yer meddlin' in things that don' concern yeh. It's dangerous. You forget that dog, an' you forget what it's guardin', that's between Professor Dumbledore an' Nicolas Flamel —"

The smile that crossed Heidi's face was sinister and sent shivers down Hagrid's spine.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter ****9: Christmas, Flamel and Snape**

Christmas was slowly making its way around the horizon, and bringing the end of first term along with it. The festive season was leisurely creeping its way into the hearts of the children, who were anxiously awaiting the day when they would be reunited with their family. All but one that is, Diana Potter, up until recently referred to as Dursley.

A few months from now, Diana would have wholeheartedly awaited the start of the winter Holidays since September. This time however there was a major problem that came along with Christmas break, and that was: whether to sign her name on the list of students that would be staying at Hogwarts for the holidays or not.

Normally she wouldn't have looked at it once before passing it on to the next person, but this year, was slightly different because, this year, she had a fight with her parents and left home for five whole months without bothering to contact them…or was it aunt and uncle…

McGonagall had promised to give the girls three days to decide on whether they would sign their names on the list or not. It was clear that that woman still felt guilty about the whole ordeal, not that Diana didn't blame her; after all, it was _her_ fault! But then she remembered the past five months and how exciting and fascinating the magical world was and she figured she didn't actually hate her for it; sure she blamed her, but she didn't hate her. That didn't mean she would be kind enough to tell her that, after all, she was the spoiled daughter of Vernon Dursley, and so had learned from a young age the benefits that the guilt feelings could bring. *snigger*

That still left her with a problem: to go home and make up with the Dursleys, or to stay at Hogwarts and keep this whole charade up until the end of the year?

_Decisions, decisions_, she mussed and turned to look at her sister.

They were currently in the first years girls dormitories. Diana was lying on her bead with her head turned in Hermione and her sister's direction who were scanning through about a thousand books on Heidi's bead, and they weren't studying mind you, nooo, _that_ torture was finally over, thank the heavens. Ever since they had come back from Hagrid's, that blasted day when he had accidentally mentioned Nicolas Flamel, the two know-it-alls had done nothing but try and find out who the hell this Flamel guy was. Diana was a tad curious too, but she wasn't obsessed like _those two_! So, after being forced into _researching_ nonstop for three whole days, she had snapped at them and told then she wouldn't open another book if it wasn't for classes. Heidi, as per expected, refused to do her Potions homework, saying she didn't have the extra time on her hand, and as a result her Potions grades had suffered greatly. Not that she minded, she hated Potions with a passion, and it had nothing to do with the _greasy git_ that everybody else seemed to hate (she suspected he was doing that on purpose), nooo, it was because of the poor animals that they had to chop and cook every freaking time they had a lesson.

"Useless!" Her sister's rambling interrupted her trail of thoughts. "I can't believe this! Why is it so hard to find a freaking person in the wizarding world?!"

"It's not that easy in the Muggle world either," Hermione reminded her.

"Easier then this," Heidi said stubbornly.

"Sis," Diana's distant voice grabbed the two girls' attention.

"What?"

"I was wondering - are we going back home for Christmas?"

"Of course we are," said Heidi slightly impatient and reached for another book. "You wouldn't want to stay here?" She began flipping through the pages of _Celebrities of the Modern Centuries _while Hermione started on _Famous inventors from 1865 till today_.

"Does that mean we'll make up with our parents?" Diana asked after a few minutes of silence.

Heidi stopped reading and slowly lowered the book on the bed so she could turn and look at her sister. She had and unreadable expression carved on her face, but her ember eyes were shining with an emotion Diana knew only too well.

"I already forgave them." She was _lying_! "I thought about it and decided it would be foolish to be mad at them for something like this." The look in her eyes said otherwise. "They're only human, it would be wrong of me to judge them as something more." She meant some of that, but the disappointment in her eyes clearly said that she was still mad, that she still couldn't forgive and forget; but she was trying to get over it, hard as it may seem she was trying, and Diana knew for a fact that her sister didn't forgive easily, and she'd never forget. Diana was tempted to confront her, to tell her she knew she was lying, after all, who knew Heidi better then her, but something told her it was still to early, the wound was still too fresh to temper with; by the gods, she knew she would scalp the idiot who provoked her just about now, so she let it drop.

"Okay," she nodded her head.

There was something else different about Diana this year and that was the fact that the boys weren't afraid to flirt with her, because there was no Dudley there to scare them off. And when she said flirt she meant it. Dean Thomas was always winking at her whenever she caught his eye, Draco had more then once tried to talk to her during recess but that usually ended up bad since Ron would always pick a fight with the blond every freaking time that happened, and the worst part of it all: _Ron Weasley liked her_!

She had found out accidentally when she had stumbled across the Weasley twins picking on their little brother in a deserted hallway, the three had spotted her and that had led to a very awkward pause of about a second or so and then Diana had rushed in the opposite direction at top speed, the fact that Hermione and her sister were right behind her didn't help much. She swore to Hermione she'd never date Ron even if her life depended on it that night, she even told her bushy friend she had a huge crush on Draco, something which had horrified her friend to no end, because he was a Slytherin and blah, blah, anyway, the girls liked pretending that day never happened.

Heidi too was getting quite a lot of attention (much to the girl's disdain), and most of it didn't have anything to do with the fact that she was a Quidditch player or the top of the year alongside Hermione, no, her sister was _gorgeous_, and all the guys knew it. The Ravenclaws especially had their eyes set on Heidi and Hermione (ever since that Halloween night Hermione had become Diana's personal fashion model and so looked down right stunning every time she was seen in public), and let's not forget the Weasley twins who thought it funny to have twins for girlfriends.

So, the Great Hall, with all its decorations and hangings and mistletoes spread every-freaking-five-meters-from-one-another became a place to avoid at all cost for the two. The concept of dating didn't appeal as much to Diana without Dudley there to annoy, so the three girls decided to skip diner and head up to the Library in a last desperate attempt at finding out whom that Flamel bastard was.

Of course they had no luck!

"I'll ask the manager at Flourish and Blotts if he knows anything," said Heidi.

"Yes, that would be great," sighed Hermione. "This whole time spent looking and nothing! That's really annoying!"

"Don't worry, we'll find out who he is somehow," assured Diana. "Now let's stop talking about books, please, I'm getting desperate here!"

Hermione and Heidi giggled as they climbed up the stairs. "Fine, but you do know we have homework for the holiday's right?" Heidi asked sniggering slightly.

Diana groaned out loud and shot an angry glare her sister's way. "I hate you!"

The next day at six o'clock sharp the girls rushed down into the Great Hall to have breakfast before the other children could get up and then spent the time between seven thirty to nine waiting outside the entrance doors, trying to build a gigantic snowman with magic. McGonagall hat told them the previous day that they weren't allowed to use magic outside of school, which had earned her more then a few shouts of protest, especially on Diana's part. McGonagall had also told the girls that she had contacted the Dursleys and had asked them to come and pick the twins up from the station, the two didn't know if they should be grateful or angry so they had just nodded their heads and left without another word.

"You _will_ write won't you?" Hermione asked.

"Only if you write back," Diana said. "But don't expect Ruby, that owl's to dumb for her own sake."

Diana and Hermione started chuckling at this while Heidi threw them a reproachful glare.

The train ride was a pleasant affair, if you don't count the time Diana had forced them to hide so that Malfoy wouldn't see them.

"Thought you liked him," said Hermione puzzled.

"I do, but he's a brat," was Diana's blunt reply.

After that the only other interruption they had was the trolley lady from whom the girls had bought about a dozen of sweets to last them over the holidays and then came the heartbreaking see you soon, and the horror of going through the barrier.

The three Dursleys were waiting outside. Dudley was standing a few strides away looking anxiously around while Petunia and Vernon gave a very good impression of angst parents whose children had just been kidnapped; in a matter of saying they were a mess. Petunia hadn't even bothered to put on the tons of makeup she usually wore and Vernon looked nothing next to desperate what with his shirt partially tucked in his pants and his plover worn backwards. Diana felt horrible at seeing them in such a state, and Heidi wasn't feeling much better herself.

Dudley was the first to spot the twins and he didn't think twice before running off towards them and enveloping the two in an iron grip. The two girls hugged him back just as fierce and buried their head in Dudley's massive shoulders. Petunia and Vernon came up to them, an expression of relief washed over their faces.

Once Dudley let the twins go, the awkward silence took shape in full force. The 5 members of the Dursley family suddenly found their shoes much more interesting then anything else while the rest of the people carried on with their brisk walks and merry chatter completely oblivious that right now, in this very moment, time had stopped in place for a few people, and it didn't look like it was going to start again anytime soon.

Diana for one wasn't angry anymore. How could she be, after seeing her parents so dishevel and sharing that brotherly moment with Dudley? She realized that what terrified her right now was _her_ behavior. She had been irresponsible, she had not taken in account her parents reaction to her hasty departure, she hadn't contacted them in _5 whole months_! Her parents had tried to protect her as best they could and she had blown all their efforts in their faces! _What kind of daughter am I_?!

Heidi however wasn't feeling as guilty, no, far from it. She was still very much pissed at the two for keeping something as important from her and she was most definitely going to speak her mind.

"You lye to me ever again and I _won't_ forgive you!" she said in a soft but firm voice. "What exactly were you afraid of? That I wouldn't look at you the same? That I would consider some dead people I've only ever heard of as my parents instead of you who have nurtured and looked out for me my entire life? Look at me!" Vernon and Petunia slowly lifted their heads from the ground to look at their daughter.

"Pumpkin, we only-" Vernon tried to say but Heidi cut him off.

"_No_, you listen!" The two adults immediately closed their mouths. "Just because a person gives birth to someone doesn't automatically make them family. Family means understanding, love, _respect_! It means people that you care about and who care for you; people you would give your life to protect! _You_ are my family! And it'll take a whole lot more then a few lies here and there to break that. But I'd appreciate it if we refrained from keeping secrets from now one!" Petunia and Vernon nodded mutely. "Good!" Then she hugged them, and time started moving again.

The twins' trunks were hurtled in the back of the car and the Dursleys were off towards nr. 4 Privet Drive, off towards _home_!

Dudley, who was not at all looking forward to turning this ride in another awkward trip as the journey to Kings Cross had been, started complaining loudly about Saint Brutus, the all-boys middle school he had attended thus far. Diana immediately joined in the chatter, eager to get this strange moment over with.

When they reached the house, Diana started talking about their time at Hogwarts, which proved to be slightly difficult; firstly because Dudley was unwilling to believe anything she said was true, Vernon didn't look much convinced either; secondly because, well, it was magic for Christ's sake! It was something way beyond a few petty words and enthusiastic gestures. So she promised she would take them there one day.

The first couple of days were awkward and not a little unnerving, but the Dursleys eventually outgrew that problem, and a few days before Christmas found the five in front of the Leaky Cauldron, the twins grinning madly and ready to integrate their family in the wizarding world.

"Are you sure you can see it?" Diana asked for about the tenth time.

"Yes pumpkin, I can see the demolished pub, and I can't believe that so many people are going in there! How many can that thing hold?"Vernon asked skeptically.

Diana sniggered. "Don't worry, it's a lot bigger on the inside," she assured waving a dismissive hand.

The journey through Diagon Alley took up the whole day. Dudley had never been so excited over something in his life, he turned his head in all direction and openly stared at everything in sight, with him mouth stuck in a permanent O kind of shape. Vernon was overwhelmed by the trip and couldn't do much more then nod his head every time someone asked a question, as a result the girls ended up buying some random stuff which most definitely weren't gonna make it home. Petunia kept wrinkling her nose at the chopped bits of animal pieces on display, and all the dirt that seemed to surround the place, but was, for the most part, impressed.

The Christmas shopping didn't conclude without Dudley buying a number of useless things and the girls showing off a few of the spells they had learned over the semester to the Dursleys. Needles to say they were stunned speechless. It was almost like everything they had seen and heard up until that point was just another fairytale invented by some random stranger. It was only then, when Diana took out her wand and performed the Lumos spell did the knowledge that magic was real registered in the Dursleys heads.

"Wow," was all that had flown out of Dudley's lips for about half an hour or so. The journey back through the alley was spent in relative silence; every member of the Dursley family trying to process as best they could the information that their twins could lift something in the air just by saying a couple of Latin words.

Dudley did cheer up when they got to the sweet shop and was allowed to buy about a tone of chocolate frogs (he was a collector).

"Look! I've got Dumbledore! Didn't you say that was your Headmaster?" he asked the twins.

"Yep, that's definitely him," answered Diana.

"Cool," grinned Dudley who turned the card over and began reading out loud what was written on the back. "Albus Dumbledore; Considered by many the greatest wizard of modern times, Dumbledore is particularly famous for his defeat of the dark wizard Grindelwald in 1945, for the discovery of the twelve uses of dragon's blood, and his work on alchemy with his partner, Nicolas Flamel. Professor Dumbledore enjoys chamber music and tenpin bowling."

The twins stopped in their tracks and shared shocked looks.

"His partner in alchemy…" began Heidi.

"Was Nicolas Flamel," finished Dudley. "Why? Do you know him?"

The twins didn't answer. They turned 180 and sprinted up the road towards Flourish and Blotts. The Dursleys weren't far behind.

Heidi reached the stool where the manager was seated, slammed her hands on the wooden surface while breathing erratically. "Alchemy…Nicolas Flamel…book…NOW!" She managed to say between pants. The manager took one look at her and nodded his head, left the stool and made his way towards the shelf of books.

"It's nice to see you too, Miss Potter!" He had a bitter tone to his voice which Heidi knew would be there, that was one of the main reasons she had wanted to postpone her journey to the shop for as long as she could.

"I _am_ sorry I never told you my surname was Potter," she said honestly. "But I lived my whole life with the name Dursley, and I had no idea I was…_popular_ in the wizarding world."

"Popular is an understatement," said the manager sharply. He halted in front of a shelf full of books and picked up: _Famous Alchemists, Old and New_. "I believe that is what you're looking for."

"Yes, thank you," Heidi took the book and after a few more feeble excuses exited the shop. The twins did not speak much on the journey back home and once they reached the house, they barricaded themselves in Heidi's room and started flipping through the pages.

"The Sorcerer's Stone?" asked Heidi in something between skepticism and awe.

"A stone that could make you immortal," said Diana in a small, astonished voice. "Sitting neatly right under Fluffy's big paw."

"Hermione is going to crack and egg when she hears this," muttered Heidi. "But why is Dumbledore keeping the stone in the school?"

"No idea," shrugged Diana.

"We'll have to pay Hagrid another visit," decided Heidi and closed the book with a bang.

The rest of the holidays weren't much interesting, if you don't count Christmas day. The girls received tons of gifts, from people who they knew would sent them gifts and from people who they never would have dreamed would do so.

There were the yearly presents from Petunia, Vernon and Dudley, for which they had bought presents too; the expected ones from Lavender, Parvati, Hermione (whom they had sent the book they found Nicholas Flamel in and some fancy quills Diana had bought especially for her bushy friend) and Hagrid, whom the girls had owld gifts and were quite surprised when they received a flute and a tooth fang.

Then there were the unusual gifts like for example Diana was most certainly not expecting any gifts from Draco Malfoy, or Ron Weasley for the matter, but there they were, lying neatly on her bed. Draco had sent her and adorable midnight-blue blouse, that was made entirely out of silk along with a matching bracelet, that looked nothing next to cheep. Ron on the other hand had sent her a box of Betle-Bot every flavor Beans and a few chocolate frogs which she past on to Dudley. She felt quite horrible for not getting the two anything; but Heidi cheered her up by remembering her of what prats they had been along the semester.

Heidi had got three extra gifts herself; two of whom were unnamed. The named one was from Neville, he had sent the twins a whole bunch of sweets, a perfume for Diana, as thank you for helping him in Charms, and a beautiful garden flower for Heidi, as thank you for helping him in Transfiguration. The first unnamed gift was addressed to the twins saying:

_Your father left this in my possession before he died._

_It is time it was returned to you._

_Use it well._

_A Very Merry Christmas to you._

That one contained an invisibility cloak, something which had the girls bouncing in enthusiasm. They completely forgot about the last gift and hurried down below to show their parents and Dudley their present. Needless to say Dudley was in heaven when he saw the cloak and swore he'd buy one for himself very soon. Petunia and Vernon were left very much speechless at seeing one of the hundred wonders of the wizarding world, but after the shock passed they had been happy for the girls.

The last nameless present wasn't opened up until late into the night when Heidi finally returned to her room and saw it laying innocently on her desk. It was a strange package, about a few inches high and very light, wrapped in emerald green paper with a silver ribbon tied neatly to it. Inside was a very peculiar, and at the same time beautiful object. A golden necklace that was wrapped around a miniature locket made out of gold, with an S like symbol engraved in green like writing. The necklace in itself was nothing special, but the eerie feel that it had to it, like it was something powerful and…dark was what scared Heidi a little, and that was what drew her to the strange piece of jewelry. She didn't actually know why but she felt…safe, when she looked at the strange artifact. It was like she knew it would protect her somehow.

-------

"Heidi! Diana!" Hermione's squeaking voice cut through the crowd of students and dragged the twins' attention towards her.

"Mione!" Diana rushed forward and enveloped her bushy haired friend in a hug. "How have you been?" she asked merrily, but the smile faded of her face when she saw the girl's clothes. "Didn't I tell you to stop wearing those?! Herms, do you want to be unattractive again?" Hermione flushed crimson and started fudging on the spot.

"Oh, let the girl breath," Heidi scowled at her sister. "It's nice to see you Herms," Heidi wrapped her arms around her friend and smiled happily.

The girls hurried into a compartment where Diana started fussing over Hermione's clothes and hair, while the other two talked about their holidays.

"I can't believe Dumbledore brought the Sorcerer's Stone at Hogwarts!" Hermione was saying. "I nearly chocked on my glass of milk when I read that book you sent me."

"Did you get any present from Neville?" asked Diana.

"Yeah, a bunch of sweets and a Herbology book, as thank you for the help in Potions," Hermione answered.

"Let me show you what we got for Christmas," Diana said smiling gleefully at the girl.

The rest of the ride was spent with the girls talking animatedly about the things they could (or shouldn't in Hermione's opinion), do with the invisibility cloak.

-------

The start of second term was in no way pleasant for the girls. Diana hated Potions, Heidi hated Quidditch practice, Hermione hated the fact that she was loosing a chess game spectacularly to Ron of all people.

It was one of those rainy days when no one dared to venture outside except the Quidditch team players who were _forced_ into it by Oliver Wood, while Diana and Hermione were sitting in the common room impatiently waiting for Heidi to come back from practice, that Ron Weasley decided to stumble over to them and confront them to a match of wizards' chess. The two had of course accepted (being the prideful Gryffindors and all) they would never back down from a challenge. Diana had played three matches and lost rather badly. Hermione was on her second match when Heidi returned and was loosing quite dramatically.

"Sis! Ron beat us at wizards' chess!" Diana complained the moment Heidi came down the stairs an hour later. She was looking slightly tired and not a little annoyed.

"And why do I care?" Heidi inquired in an irate tone.

"Because you're good at chess," said Diana. "And I want you to kick his sorry ass!" she added.

"Aha," Heidi nodded and went to sit by the fire. Diana took her sister's silence as consent and went to challenge Ron to another game. Ron nodded his head and stood up from the chair ready to follow Diana when Fred and George blocked their way.

"Wait just a minute," George (or was it Fred) said. "Don't you think that's a little selfish of you asking poor Ronikins here to play the game a thousand times?"

"He's human you know, he gets tired," Fred butted in.

"Guy; what are you up to?" asked Ron perplexed.

"What we're up to is a deal," said Fred.

"Yeah, a deal," smiled George.

"Aha," nodded Diana. "What kind of _deal_?"

"Well, it's simple actually," George assured.

"Very simple" nodded Fred. "And it goes something like this: If you're brilliant sister there loses this match,"

"You have to go on a date with Ronikins here," finished George. "Well, how does that sound for a deal?"

"Are you made?!" asked Diana.

"Backing down from a challenge are we?" was George's disappointed reply.

"Of course not!" said Diana defiantly. "My sister could kick anyone's ass, anytime!"

"Then it's a date!" Fred grinned broadly at her.

"It's a deal," Diana corrected him. "Heidi!"

Heidi and Hermione, who had been eavesdropping on their conversation, looked murderous over at the twins.

_No one messes with my sister_! Heidi's nostrils flared as she made her way towards them; a vicious smile worthy of a blood thirsty dark lord passed her features when she took her sat and looked into Ron's determined gaze. _Not today honey_!

Needless to say, Ron lost pathetically to Heidi, despite giving it his best effort.

"My sister is a genius," Diana had busted her ego on her twin's behalf.

Heidi had then complained about Wood being stressed out of his mind because Snape was referring the next match. Hermione didn't understand what all the fuss was about and Diana most certainly didn't care.

-----

The day of the Quidditch match had finally arrived and luckily for the players and fans the weather was relatively peaceful for the start of spring. The snow had melted away sometime that week and had left behind the empty castle grounds, which, to the students' dismay, were deserted of their usual green glory.

Diana and Hermione seated themselves besides Neville and Hagrid whom the girls greeted cheerfully and sat down eagerly awaiting the start of the game.

In the locker room Wood was having a one-on-one conversation with Heidi.

"I want you to concentrate on one thing and one thing only in this match, and that is to catch the Snitch as soon as possible!" Wood said. "No more parading down the field or tricking the rival players and stuff like that. I need you to be one-hundred-percent _focused_ on that Snitch and catch it before Snape manages to favor Hufflepuff to much."

"Snape…favor…Hufflepuff?" somehow Heidi couldn't wrap her head around the notion of Snape favoring anything other then the Slytherins. "Okay, if you so desperately want that, I think I can comply."

"Thank you," Wood said truly relieved.

Heidi and her team marched up to the field and that's were she saw two things she wasn't gonna forget anytime soon. One would be Severus Snape's angry glare directed at god only knows what and the second was the Hufflepuff Quidditch team. That lot looked like a pair of boy scouts on brooms (even the beaters looked relatively harmless). She vaguely wondered if the innocent looking players would get out of this match unharmed.

"I wonder what's wrong with Professor Snape?" asked Hermione perplexed.

"Who cares," said Diana and rose up in her seat to scream "GO GET THEM SIS!!"

Ron jumped in his seat and turned briskly around to see Malfoy seating himself right behind him. Hermione could smell danger from afar.

"Oh, sorry, Weasley, didn't see you there," said Malfoy in a chuckling sort of tone.

"Wonder if those crazy brothers of yours are gonna manage to act more civil then a bunch of brutes on a broom, less Professor Snape will have to disqualify them."

Ron tried his best to ignore Malfoy, but was finding that difficult seeing as Snape had just awarded a penalty to Hufflepuff because one of the twins had swung a Bludger in his direction, not that Ron blamed him.

"That son of a bitch!" growled Diana outraged. The surrounding people had no idea if she was angry at Snape or the twin who had launched the Bludger.

"See Weasley, what did I tell you," sneered Malfoy. Crabbe and Goyle were howling with laughter nearby.

"You know how I think they choose people for the Gryffindor team?" said Malfoy loudly a few minutes later, as Snape awarded Hufflepuff another penalty for no reason at all. "It's people they feel sorry for. See, there's Spinnet, who's got no mother, then there's the Weasleys, who've got no money — you should be on the team, Longbottom, you've got no brains."

Neville was squirming in discomfort besides Hermione while Ron looked ready to start a fight, but Diana beat him to it.

She pushed Crabbe (or was it Goyle), roughly aside and took the seat next to Malfoy glaring murderous at him. "If I miss one more second of my sister's match, _one more second_, I'll make you regret the day you were born!" Draco shut his mouth and nodded curtly, but when Diana's head turned back towards the game, he lifted his head towards Ron and smiled triumphantly in the other boy's miserably shaped face.

Heidi suddenly went into a spectacular dive that drew gasps and cheers from the surveying crowd. Diana unintentionally grabbed a hold of Draco's hand.

"Come on Heidi!" Hermione screamed while rising to her feet.

"Come on sis," Diana was chanting like a silent prayer of sorts. She was up on her feet, as most of the spectators were, and was practically crushing Draco's hand in hers, but he'd be dammed if he was about to complain.

Heidi was rushing ever close towards the Snitch and couldn't believe her eyes that the Hufflepuff Seeker was stupid enough to just stand there, looking defeated. For a fraction of a second she considered letting this chance slip, but then she remembered Snape and his unjustified favoritism and closed her hand firmly around the Snitch.

Hermione hugged Neville, Diana hugged Draco and Ron looked distraught. The stands erupted into hysterical cheers and roaring clapping filled the air as the smell of victory spread over the house of lions. The snakes however shoed their displeasure by booing loudly, though no one took notice, and Draco was not gonna join them anytime soon, not with Diana holding on to him like a lifesaver. And then she kissed him on the cheek, and the world could just go drop dead in a hole for all he cared.

Diana released Draco, without taking notice of what she had done, and went to smother Hermione, who was only to happy to return the gesture. Diana practically ordered Fred and George to take her and Hermione down to her sister, and the twins, too engulfed in the clutches of victory, did so without complains.

The next hour past by in a daze for Hermione and the twins; they were smothered by Gryffindors for the first ten minutes or so, Wood had actually kissed Heidi on the cheek while enveloping her in a boon crushing hug even Dumbledore had come down to congratulate Heidi on her performance. The three girls were the last to leave the locker room still feeling high because of the day's events. However reality was slowly coming back to them and Hermione told Diana something that horrified her to death.

"I kissed Malfoy on the cheek?" she asked in a weak, pitiable voice.

"It wasn't that bad," even to Hermione those words sounded fake.

"Stop pitying her! She likes the boy! The relationship has to start somewhere doesn't it?" said Heidi impatiently. She had long ground tired of the cat and mouse game her sister was playing with the Malfoy brat.

Diana was just about to send a few colorful words her twins' direction when a tall man in a long billowing robe caught her attention. "Isn't that Snape?" she asked puzzled.

The figure was walking briskly through the castle grounds and heading for the Forbidden Forest. Heidi, suddenly hit by a moment of inspiration, mounted her broom and whispered "you head on first" to the other two before kicking off the ground and chasing after Snape.

She followed Snape up until he entered the forest where she momentarily lost him because the thick trees wouldn't allow her too much visibility; however the voices (no mater how hushed), were enough to drag her attention towards them, and when Snape came into Heidi's view again, and he was not alone, Quirrell was there too. She landed silently on a nearby branch and leaned in to catch a glimpse of what they were talking.

"… d-don't know why you wanted t-t-to meet here of all p-places, Severus…"

"Oh, I thought we'd keep this private," said Snape, his voice icy. "Students aren't supposed to know about the Sorcerer's Stone, after all."

Heidi's head shot up at the mention of the stone, her Slytherin curiosity getting the best of her. Maybe she would manage to find out why Dumbledore had moved the Stone to Hogwarts.

"Have you found out how to get past that beast of Hagrid's yet?"

_Quirrell is trying to get past Fluffy? Or is it Snape?_ Heidi couldn't really understand since Quirrell was stumbling madly and speaking in such a low voice she had to strain herself to hear anything he said.

"B-b-but Severus, I —"

"You don't want me as your enemy, Quirrell," said Snape, taking a step toward him.

Well she could definitely hear Snape clearly enough, and he didn't actually seemed like the most trustworthy of the two, plus the fact that he had managed to get on Heidi's black list for the cheating he had done on today's match.

"I-I don't know what you—"

"You know perfectly well what I mean."

An owl hooted loudly and had Heidi jump high enough to nearly fall of the tree. The cracking noise that the branch made cut short any conversation that the two men might have had, and they both turned to look in her direction. Heidi jumped behind the tree and hoped against hope that they would dismiss the sound as noting more then the wind blowing a little harder, or the owl flying off a branch. Luckily for her she heard Snapes menacing voice say:

"We'll have another little chat soon, when you've had time to think things over and decided where your loyalties lie;" then the sound of footsteps rushing away. She suppressed a sight of relief as she lifted herself to look at Quirrell standing alone in the clearing looking mortified.

-----

"Where have you been?" Asked Hermione the moment she laid eyes on her.

"Boy, have I got news for you," Heidi said grinning. She rushed Hermione and her sister in a deserted classroom and told them what she heard in the forest.

"So Fluffy _is_ guarding the Sorcerer's Stone!" said Diana delighted.

"Yeah, but why were Snape and Quirrell talking about it?" asked Hermione confused.

"Do you think they're trying to steal it?" said Diana in a guarded tone.

"Quirrell steal something?" asked Heidi mockingly. "I think Snape's better of alone."

Diana thought about it and then nodded her head. "I couldn't agree with you more."

"So Snape's trying to steal the stone?" asked Hermione puzzled. "Why would he want to do that?"

"I don't know," said Heidi honestly. "Maybe he wants to live forever or something and we really need to go and talk to Hagrid!"

The other two nodded their consent.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter ****10:Diana's Crazy Animal Obsession **

The three girls hadn't had time to speak to Hagrid yet, but they most certainly made time to spy on Snape and Quirrell, and visit Fluffy at least once a week something that Diana enjoyed immensely.

Quirrell turned from slightly pale to death white within the next week, he was stuttering much more in class, and he looked like he hadn't had a good night sleep in days; while Snape was still growling around in his usual bad temper, something which made the girls come to the conclusion that Snape was trying to steal the Stone, and he was pressuring Quirrell somehow to help him.

"But that doesn't make sense!" Hermione said irate. "Why would Snape want the Stone for?"

"Immortality! Ring a bell?" said Diana in a tone that made it sound like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"I get that," the bushy haired girl snapped. "But seriously, does Snape look like a person who would give much of a thought to that?"

"Aha," nodded Diana with a skeptic look on her face.

"Try imagining for a moment that not everybody is like you," said Hermione vexed.

"Snape is definitely the type to value immortality," Heidi intervened before the two got caught up in a silly argument. "I know I would. Wouldn't you Hermione?" she turned to look quizzically at her friend.

"I…I don't know," Hermione answered honestly. "The thought is rather tempting I guess, but…I haven't given much thought to it."

"Of course you haven't," Heidi waved a dismissive hand. "After all, death is something common among our kind, especially among Muggle; so of course no one would give much thought to something that is by all means impossible to achieve. But deep down, I think we all want it; the power to transcend humanity, to overcome the fear of death that is permanently weighing down on our shoulders. It's quite a natural emotion for a human."

Hermione nodded her head while Diana looked plain bored, she wanted to go and play with Fluffy, but of course the two know-it-alls wouldn't agree! The insane girls (Diana was sure they had cracked), wanted to start studying for the finally exams, when said tests were _months_ away. They had prepared their own personal study board, and had enlisted Diana onto it despite her loud protests and continuous arguments that _she_ unlike _them_ had a social life to attend to!

The teachers seemingly agreed with the two and had therefore pilled the students up with so much homework that it was hard to follow Snape and Quirrell around sometimes. Diana hated them so much at the moment that she had given them insulting nicknames just to feel like she was protesting in some way: Flitwich the Shrimp, Quirrell the Inept, Bins the Boor, Sprout the Unclean, Sinistra the Loony, Snape the man who desperately needs a hug (big time!), and McGonagall the one who desperately needs a snogg (she would have used another words that began with an _S_, but she still had _some_ respect for the strict woman).

"Ok, enough with the life philosophy and such, we have to start studying," said Heidi as she reached for her bag of books.

Diana at this moment was desperate for _any_ type of distraction that would keep the two girls' minds off of books. "What to go to Hagrids," she blurred out in an attempt to lure the two away from studying.

Hermione turned to look strangely at her. "Where did that come from?" she asked slightly amused.

"Well, I was thinking about the fact that we haven't gone to see him yet, and he might be able to tell us something," she argues hoping to catch the two's interest.

"Not gonna happen," her _charming _sister said sweetly.

"Why not? Have you forgotten about the stone?" Diana asked outraged.

"Have you forgotten about your studies?" Heidi shot back. "How's your potions' essay doing?" she asked in a taunting voice.

"I will drop that stinking subject the moment I can, trust me on that," Diana assured.

"That won't happen till fifth year, and until then you have to _at least _have decent grades in the subject," Heidi said in a final tone and pulled out her Charms book.

"I want to see Hagrid!" Diana whined and crossed her arms over her chest refusing to do anything but pout.

Heidi shot her an irritated glare and sat her book down. "Annoying _brat_!" she hissed at her sister while making her way towards the door. "Are you coming or not?" she snapped when Diana made no attempt at moving.

Diana turned her surprised gaze on her sister and just looked at her dumb-stricken for a few seconds before a brilliant smile made her way across her face. The red haired hopped off her bed happily and bounced towards her sister. Hermione gave a frustrated sigh and closed her book, before standing up and following the two out of the bedroom.

They slowly made their way towards Hagrid's hut, mostly because Diana was stalking for time. The other two were getting quite annoyed with the red head because they were obviously not going to get any work done today either, and they were already behind schedule, but the thought flew out of their head when they neared the groundkeeper's hut. The first strange thing they noticed about it was that all the curtains were drawn, the second was Hagrid asking who it was after they knocked, the third was the oven heat that was inside the cabin, the forth one was the huge black egg that was laid neatly in the fire, but appeared to be unfazed by the burning flames.

"Hagrid, what's that?" asked Heidi cautiously, a feeling of dread overtook her with every passing second she spent looking at the egg.

"Oh, that's a-" Hagrid never got to finish as Diana's shrieks of terror filled the room.

"Hagrid how _could you_!" The red haired asked in a horror filled voice mixed with not a little resentment. "I thought you loved animals!" she said accusingly. "How could you do that to a poor, defenseless egg?" Tears were beginning to form in the girls' beautiful hazel eyes and she looked at Hagrid with a reproachful glare.

"No, no, no, Diana, yeh, don' understand," Hagrid hurried to pacify her. "That t'ere 's a dragon egg. He needs ter be warm so he can hatch, the fire aint hurting 'im, it's helping 'im!"

"A dragon egg?" asked Diana flabbergasted.

"Ay that t'ere's a Norwegian Ridgeback, they're rare them," said Hagrid proudly.

"But where did you get that?" asked Hermione.

"Won it," said Hagrid. "Las' night. I was down in the village havin' a few drinks an' got into a game o' cards with a stranger. Think he was quite glad ter get rid of it, ter be honest."

"Really?" inquired Heidi in a sarcastic tone. "There's no way I'm believing people go around selling dragons to stranger, not when keeping one has been outlawed centuries ago. Don't you think that's a little fishy?"

"Who cares," said Diana suddenly sparkling with joy. She crouched down besides the fire and looked gleefully at the dragon egg. "When will it hatch?"

"Do' know but I recon it'll be pretty soon," Hagrid answered and proceeded to stoke the fire.

"Anyway, we came here to talk to you about something else," Heidi said in an incensed tone while throwing a dirty look towards the dragon egg; that thing had trouble written all over it.

"O' cours'," Hagrid nodded. "What do yers waned ter ask me 'bout?"

"We wanted to know what's guarding the Stone apart from Fluffy," Heidi blurred out, not wanting to beat around the bush.

"I can't tell yes t'at," he said. "Number one, I don' know meself. Number two, yeh know too much already, so I wouldn' tell yeh if I could. That Stone's here fer a good reason. It was almost stolen outta Gringotts. Beats me how yeh know abou' Fluffy."

"We found him by accident on one of our nightly errands," was Heidi's swift reply.

"Oh, come on, Hagrid, you surely _must_ know what's guarding the place, after all, you know everything that happens around here," said Hermione in a sweet, flattering voice. "We were just wondering who Dumbledore might have trusted, _besides you of course_, to guard such a valuable item."

Hagrid's chest pumped up at Hermione's words and he beamed with pride down at them.

"Well, I don' s'pose it could hurt ter tell yeh that… let's see… he borrowed Fluffy from me… then some o' the teachers did enchantments… Professor Sprout — Professor Flitwick — Professor McGonagall —" he ticked them off on his fingers, "Professor Quirrell — an' Dumbledore himself did somethin', o' course. Hang on, I've forgotten someone. Oh yeah, Professor Snape."

"Snape? Really? Dumbledore trusts Snape that much?" Heidi asked in a doubtful voice.

"O' cour' he does," said Hagrid defensively. "He wouldn't o' let him near the stone if he didn't."

Heidi nodded thoughtfully, a pensive expression clouding her face.

"You're the only one who knows how to get past Fluffy right?" asked Heidi after a few minutes of silence.

"Not a soul knows except me an' Dumbledore," said Hagrid proudly.

Heidi nodded again, not looking convinced in the least. The girls spent a few more minutes at Hagrids then Hermione and Heidi literary dragged Diana back to the castle, while feeding Hagrid some shabby excuse about homework; well, technically, it was true, they did have homework left undone, but the three were in no state of mind to concentrate on it. No, the three spent the rest of the night debating on what they had learned.

"So Snape is helping protect the Stone, alongside Quirrell and about a dozen other teachers," Hermione muttered.

"Seems like it," said Diana suppressing a yawn.

"So, what? Does that mean that they're both innocent and don't want to steal the stone for their own purpose?" asked Hermione desperate.

"No. One of them is definitely trying to steal that stone," Heidi assured her. "I'm leaning towards Snape!"

"Me too," Diana agreed.

"He definitely is the most suspicious of the lot," Hermione agreed. "Then why would he help protect the Stone?"

"Inside information," stated Heidi simply. "He's part of the team, so no one would suspect him, and he could _chat_ with the other members about what they did to _protect_ the stone, you know friendly collaboration and stuff."

"Then why hasn't he stolen it yet?" inquired Diana.

"Didn't you hear Hagrid? No one know how to get pass Fluffy except him and Dumbledore!" said Hermione. "And apparently he's got some problem with Quirrell's spell, because he's definitely trying to harass him into telling him what it is."

"So, what do we do?" asked Diana slightly excited; the concept of a new adventure appealed to her quite a lot.

"Nothing," stated Heidi simply earning herself two incredulous looks from the other occupants of the room.

"Nothing?" asked Hermione perplexed.

"Of course," nodded Heidi. "We have lessons to worry about and exams to pass. Besides, if Snape can get pass Dumbledore that he can definitely get pass us."

Hermione nodded her head in agreement while Diana looked like she was going to protest but Heidi swiftly cut off any reply.

"There are seven teachers who placed their strongest enchantments on that place, _seven_! Do you actually think you're better then that?"

"Well, no, but-"

"But nothing!" Heidi snapped. "I do _not_ want to hear you talk about anything else but your exams before the end of term, or I _will _curse you!" she threatened.

Diana bowed her head in resignation while secretly promising she would not stand by and watch while something was stolen from straight underneath their noses. However the thought was soon flung to the back of her mind, as life went on its usual routine, and having both Heidi and Hermione breathing down her back, it was impossible to think of anything else but studying. The thought returned to her head some days, near the end of April when Blanch swooped down at breakfast carrying a note in her beach that read: _It's hatching_ in a very untidy scrawl that the girls could barely make out.

Diana ran out of the Great Hall like a deranged bull chasing the red flag.

_Screw Herbology! I _have_ to see this!_ Was the only coherent thought running through her brain at the moment. Hermione and Heidi weren't far behind, shouting for her to slow down, but she didn't. She ran all the way up to Hagrid's hut and banged the door open, breathing erratically; face redder then a tomato, and looking like she just got out of a struggle for cheep prices at a Supermarket sale.

"Where…is…it?" She managed to ask between pants.

"It's nearly out," Hagrid said beaming with pride.

The egg was sitting neatly on the table, the beginning of a crack was forming somewhere around the middle. For about an hour or so, the occupants of the room stood glued to the table watching entranced as the egg slowly cracked in half, and a pair of bath wings gradually stretched from between the cracks, then the small body (that looked suspiciously like a dinosaurs), then the head, that looked like… nothing they could put into words. The eyes were a honey color that shone brightly with something akin to curiosity as it sprang its head around the room looking at the assembled crowd.

"Isn't he beautiful?" Hagrid muttered. He reached out a hand to stroke the head lovingly. Diana nodded her head fervently, and she too started fussing over the baby dragon, while Hermione was looking at it with an expression twisted between horror and fascination. Heidi thought it was the most hideous thing she had ever seen, and mind you, she actually liked animals, but that…_thing_, was definitely gonna be trouble with a burning hat on top.

The dragon bared its fangs at Hagrid's enormous hands and started growling threateningly.

"Bless him, look, he knows his mommy!" Hagrid had tears of happiness sparkling in his beetle eyes.

"Hagrid! You can't be the mommy, you're a man!" protested Diana. "You're the daddy!"

"Bu' he needs hes mother!" Hagrid protested.

"I'll be the mother," Diana said cheerfully and proceeded to hoist the dragon up in her arms, whom, unsurprisingly, didn't as much as squint in discomfort. Heidi didn't know what that girl had, but any animal alive would attach itself to Diana, no mater how vicious it might seem (or be).

"He seems ter like yeh," smiled Hagrid ruefully.

"Hagrid," interrupted Hermione, "how fast do Norwegian Ridgebacks grow, exactly?"

Hagrid opened his mouth to answer the girl, but suddenly the color drained out of his face and he looked petrified towards the window.

"What's the matter?" asked Diana who came to stand besides him, the dragon still safely held in her embrace.

"Someone was lookin' through the gap in the curtains — it's a kid — he's runnin' back up ter the school."

_Well, F#$K_! Thought Heidi as she and Hermione scurried to the door and looked around frantically for the student. They spotted him hurrying up towards the great oak doors of the castle, his platinum blond hair billowing around his face.

"This _can't_ be happening," Hermione pleaded desperately.

"Oh, but it can," snarled Heidi sardonically.

The next week or so found the girls stalking Malfoy throughout the castle worse then his shadow could. They had decided on cornering him alone one day and threatening him against opening his mouth, but the slimy little Slytherin was always in companion of those dim-headed cronies of his Crabbe and Goyle, even when he went to the bathroom (yes, Diana was that desperate on keeping her newborn baby dragon safe), Heidi had had a hard time convincing her sister into not jumping the boy that Friday before Potions.

"You have to let him go Hagrid," Hermione pleaded for the tenth time that week.

"NO!" shrieked Diana. "I am _not_ going to give my baby up for the likes of Malfoy!"

"Be reasonable Diana! He might decided to open that fat trap of his at any given time," Hermione tried to reason with her.

"Then I'll kill him before he does," snarled the red head viciously and pulled the dragon (which was now three time's its usual height), to her chest.

"Dear Lord, give me patients," Heidi pleaded as she crashed her fists together looking in any direction but her soon-to-be dead sister.

"Diana, _please_ understand that the dragon is nothing but trouble. Hagrid, you have to see that two," Hermione tried again, but the two just shock their heads firmly and refused to listen to another word she was saying.

That's when Heidi snapped.

"Now listen here you two bunch of _gorilla heads_! I have just about had it with your unjustified stubbornness and unreasonable way of thinking! So let me _enlighten you_ on a few things." Heidi turned her blazing eyes towards Hagrid, and spat unemotionally.

"You, live in a wooden house! A _fire_ breathing dragon would have no trouble at all burning it to the ground in two seconds!" Hagrid tried to protest but Heidi wouldn't have any of it. "AND you are the Groundkeeper! And you've done one hell of a grate job dismissing your _duties_ like you have in the last week. You should be ashamed of yourself!" Hagrid was really going to start an argument this time, but unluckily for him, Heidi knew just the thing that would shut him up. "DUMBLEDORE would be _ashamed of you_!" Hagrid's mouth closed with a bang and his posture became rigid like a statue. "Dumbledore _trusted you_ with this job and what do you do with it, hah? You throw it out the window! You chose to endanger the life of his _students _by letting a dragon run freely around the grounds just for your _own amusement_!" Heidi saw the giant of a man go death white after hearing the last part; his enormous gleaming eyes, sparkled with tears and conflicted emotions; he kneed down, head bowed miserably, a single crystal tear ran down his beard as he snapped his eyes shut and dropped his face into his palms, weeping silently.

Diana couldn't stand to see the half giant in such a wretched shape so she decided to stand up for him; unfortunately, Heidi deemed that her mental scaring conversation with the giant was over and turned towards her second victim.

"And let's not forget about _you_!" she hissed at her sister before the red haired could utter a single word. "You and you're selfish little _brat-like_ behavior! Do you actually think you could possible raise that-" she gestured towards the baby dragon who was cowering in fright behind her "- without attracting any attention? Even if by some miraculous wonder Malfoy doesn't speak, that _thing_ would be as big as _the house_ in two weeks! Where are you gonna hide it then? In the bloody lake?! Because if Dumbledore finds it and contacts mom and dad -" Diana flinched visibly at the mention of her parents "-they would be so proud to hear their little daughter growing a_ dragon_ of all things. Did you even stop to consider how disappointed they would be if you got expelled over something like this? Noooo, of course not! You only think about yourself, you won't even take in account what he (she pointed towards the dragon again), feels in the end. Or what, do you actually think he's going to like being trapped in a wooden house for the rest of his life like some zoo animal?" Heidi asked in a sarcastic voice. "Well, would he?"

"No," it was barely a whisper, but Heidi heard it. Her sister was looking apologetically at Norbert (so they had named the dragon), a sad expression imprinted on her porcelain face.

"Glad to see you finally came down to earth then," Heidi nodded stiffly and sat herself in a chair besides Hermione.

The silence that followed was absolute. Hagrid had stopped crying a few minutes ago, but still held his head bowed in his hands, while Diana was still looking miserably at Norbert who had his head hidden behind the half-giant's massive shape. Hermione didn't dare speak. She felt in no way entitled to break the grim silence that had fallen over the other occupants of the room; after all, she had little to no contribute on this conversation and therefore decided it wasn't wise to butt in.

"I recon…I recon we sh'd give hem up t'en," Hagrid finally broke the silence after what seemed like forever.

"That would be advisable," stated Heidi in a diplomatic voice.

"But I don' know ter whom," complained the giant miserably. "I don' wanna give hem ter some ol' coak that all mistreat hem."

"How about Charlie Weasley?" asked Heidi. She clearly remembered Hagrid telling Diana about a student who had gone to study dragons across the board, and if she wasn't mistaken, that would have to be him. "If he raises dragons I'm sure he wouldn't mind taking care of this one."

"Yer rig't! I've forgot'n bout Charlie!" Hagrid said brightly. "Charlie ad' do it! He loved animal just 'bout as much as I myself do."

"Then it's settled!" Heidi beamed with pride and exhaled a deep breath of relief. _Finally _she was going to get rid of that pest!

Heidi didn't leave the hut that day until Hagrid had written a letter to Charlie and sent it of with Blanch. Diana was looking heartbroken and hoped beyond hope to stumble across Malfoy on her way to Gryffindor tower (of course that didn't happen), while Hermione boor a grim look.

Sleep did not come easy to the girls that night, but when it did, Diana couldn't stop (or didn't want to stop), dreaming about strangling Malfoy (or out right killing him in a few not so pleasant ways); while Heidi was again dreaming about those blood-shot eyes that seemed to haunt her nights. She unconsciously started stroking the golden necklace she had received for Christmas, which only made the eyes seem more visible, more intense, more real.

"Go away," she mumbled in her sleep and proceeded to glare at the ruby-red eyes who only glared right back at her.

------

A week later, at breakfast, the girls received a letter from Charlie Weasley which informed Hagrid that he'd be delighted to take in his dragon, and that he was going to send some of his friends to collect it. There was one problem though: they had to sneak the beast in the castle, and carry it up to the tallest tower that following Saturday at midnight.

"It shouldn't be too hard," said Hermione reasonably. "We have the cloak."

"Thank god, we'll finally be rid of Norbert, and Malfoy," Heidi closed her eyes while a blissful expression enveloped her features.

"You're mean!" Diana growled and sent her sister a dirty look.

"Whatever you say honey," Heidi nodded and started on her pudding.

Potions proved to be a disaster that day. Snape, who was grouchier then ever, moved Hermione from her usual spot besides the twins to Neville and Dean Thomas's table, and placed Malfoy in their bushy haired friends' place. Needless to say, Draco took care to sit as far away from the twins (who were looking murderously at him), as the table would allow while trying to brew the potion all by himself (Heidi had refused to lift a finger when she had seen her new _partner_). As soon as the class ended the twins and Hermione were the first to leave, not bothering to turn even when Ron Weasley and Draco Malfoy started fighting over some letter they had apparently found on the floor.

Saturday finally came, bringing with it the dreaded (or in some cases anticipated) moment of separation of Diana, Hagrid and Norbert. Hermione felt a slight sense of pity wash over her at seeing the heartbreaking goodbye while Heidi was regarding it all uncompanionably, positively convinced that she was doing the three a favor.

They managed to reach the Astronomy tower in a fairly good amount of time, seeing as they levitated the crate up through the caste (they weren't about to _carry it_!) and waited patiently for Charlie's friends. About half and hour or so, four cheery looking lads landed neatly on the roof top. The moment Diana saw them she had them lectured for about ten full minutes on how to take care of her bay and promised them she would hunt them down and hex them if Charlie didn't send a note back the moment he received the dragon. The four nodded, very much amused, and hoisted the crate up on harness that were tied to their brooms and off they were.

Diana sniffed softly while the other two girls were trying (and failing miserably) not to smile in relief. They made their way down towards the corridor, trying in vain to comfort Diana, but there was just no cheering her up after she had lost a _son_.

"You just don't understand! You never liked him to begin with so don't pretend you do!" Diana sniffed slightly and whipped her tear filled eyes on her sleeve.

"Ok, we don't," agreed Hermione. "But that doesn't mean we like to see you like this."

"I'm truly sorry sis, but it was for the best, believe me," Heidi assured.

"Then I trust you will understand that the detention you will be receiving right now if for your best as well," a stiff, sharp voice had the girls jump one foot in the air. "What do you think you're doing out of bed at this hour?" McGonagall asked.

The three girls turned swiftly around an apology at the tip of their thongs but that soon died out as they caught sight of Draco Malfoy standing stiffly besides Minerva and looking positively green in the face.


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter ****11: The Clocked Figure**

Heidi was currently preoccupied with cursing Norbert in the most colorful variation of words she could muss, while trying not to glare too much in Diana's general direction seeing as she was sure she'd kill her sister this time, along with the Malfoy brat.

McGonagall had dragged the four children down to her study on the first floor and had called Snape there too.

"So, you say mister Malfoy was wandering the top floors of the Astronomy tower?" Snape asked in a seemly uncaring tone.

"And he claims to have gone there with the soul intention of catching Weasley while he was sneaking a dragon inside the castle," McGonagall added.

"Is that so, Mister Malfoy?" Snape turned towards his student, a relatively calm expression on his face if you don't count the eyes, which were glowing with rage.

"Yes," Draco answered in barely a whisper, but it still carried around the silent room.

"I see," Snape glared at his student for a few more seconds and then turned his head towards the three Gryffindor girls who were sitting silently on chairs in the corner. "And your students?" Asked Snape.

"I caught them wandering the Astronomy tower about the same time as Mister Malfoy was. You still haven't explained to me what it was that you were doing there." Minerva turned towards her pupils and crossed her hands over her chest. "Well!"

Hermione started trembling when the two teachers turned to look at them, Diana burst into incontrollable tears while Heidi tried desperately not to let any emotion make its way on her face as she struggled to answer the teachers.

"Our mother's birthday is coming up soon and Diana had made her a present, a picture book with places in the castle. We spent the entire week trying to finish it so we could send it to her tomorrow with Blanch, but when Diana checked on it this evening it was nowhere to be found. Since tomorrow is our mother's birthday, we had no time to make a new one, so we went out looking for it. Hermione here-" she gestured at her friend "-tried to stop us, and got caught outside the Gryffindor common room because the portrait went out for a midnight stroll, so she had no other choice but to come along." It wasn't all lies, after all, tomorrow _was _indeed Petunia's birthday, but they weren't planning on sending her a picture book. She just hoped that Hermione would be smart enough to go along with her plan.

McGonagall looked doubtful, as per expected, Heidi didn't actually think she would believe them from the first try. "Is that true, Miss Granger?"

And here was the moment of truth. If Hermione didn't back her story up they were going to be in so much trouble (especially her) that they would wish they were never born, if she did, then things shouldn't be too bad.

Hermione looked torn between lying to her teacher and telling the truth. She knew that contradicting Heidi's story meant a whole lot of trouble for them, and way too much explanations for her liking, but if she got caught while lying to a teacher, there was no telling what consequences that would bring.

"Yes Professor. It's true," Hermione decided on going for the easy road, but only just this once. Heidi inwardly gave a sigh of relief. She knew McGonagall wouldn't have the heart to question her dejected sister and with Hermione backing her up, that was all she needed.

Minerva took one look at Diana and nodded her head in resignation. "Very well, let's say I believe you. That still was not a good enough excuse to be wondering the corridors in the death of night!" she stated sternly. "All of you will serve one day's worth of detention with Mister Filch, and twenty points shell be taken away from Gryffindor, for each! You might have had the best intentions at heart Miss Granger, but that still doesn't justify what you did. You could have patiently waited for the portraits return or come directly to my office and we could have solved this together. Next time I expect you will come and seek me out when you are confronted with a problem of this sort!"

"Yes Professor," Hermione nodded in a slight quivering voice.

"I believe your student is worthy enough to be added to the list, Severus." McGonagall turned towards Snape and raised and expected brow.

Snape shot Draco an icy glare before nodding his head. "Very well."

"You shall be informed of the date and time when you will be serving your detention. Now of to bed with you; and you'd better pray that I don't hear news of you sneaking around or catch you at it again because you won't escape as lightly!"

The girls gave a curt nod and were out the door faster then you could say Quidditch.

"You can stop crying now Diana, we're far enough," Heidi whispered to her sister.

Diana immediately lowered her hands from her eyes and turned to scoop around before asking "Are you sure?"

"Yep," Heidi nodded while Hermione looked at her in aw.

"You were pretending? All that time, you were faking it?" she asked bewildered.

"Of course," answered Diana. "That's how it's always been in our family. If we got caught while doing something bad, I'd start crying, Dudley would start playing the victim and Heidi would come up with a good enough excuse to bail us out."

"I can't believe this," said Hermione shaking her head slightly. "You tricked me?"

"There was no time to tell you," stated Heidi. "And please take in account that if we had told the truth, we would have gotten into a whole lot more trouble then we are now, if we hadn't been expelled that is. This way, we got off easy, you heard McGonagall."

"Yeah, I did. But you made me look like the bad friend that would go rat them out to a teacher!" the bushy haired stated indignantly.

"It was either that or, lying that we got a ransom note from Weasley claiming he had my owl hostage and wanted to force my sister into a date with him," Heidi said jokingly.

Both Hermione and Diana burst into fits of laughter. "That would have gone _so_ wrong for _so many_ reasons."

"I know," nodded Heidi. "And I can't believe we forgot the cloak on top of the Astronomy tower." That was enough to wipe the laugh off the other two's face.

The next day Heidi decided to playing on the sensitive side of her housemates and before anyone got a chance to go to breakfast she gave them a public apology for loosing the 60 points, blurring out the same excuse she had used to placate McGonagall. She of course promised to get the points back this very week, which seemed to complacent her Gryffindor friends who just nodded and told her to make sure she kept her promise. Then the girls hurried of to the Astronomy tower while everyone was at breakfast and retrieved the cloak.

Throughout the next week Heidi, Hermione and Diana did exactly what they told their friends they would and won back the twenty points they had lost each in their favorite subject. For Diana that was Charms, while Hermione and Heidi were having a furious competition on who could answer the most questions in class. All in all, Gryffindor was in the lead and didn't look like it was going to come down anytime soon.

The furious studying didn't stop there. Hermione and Heidi (who still blamed Malfoy, Diana and Hagrid for what happened - mostly Malfoy), would force Diana into studying at least three times a day. Hermione was tutoring her and Neville in Potions and Astronomy while Heidi was tutoring the two in Transfiguration and History of Magic, and Diana was helping Neville out with Charms while the plump boy had agreed to help her out with Herbology.

The weeks passed by in the same old routine and nothing interesting happened up until a week before the exams started when Diana was returning from the library with a pile of books her two…three tutors had asked her to take out. She heard a muffled voice coming from a classroom to her right and edged closer to hear what was going on.

She could hear Quirrell's voice on the other side of the door.

"No — no — not again, please —"

It sounded like someone was threatening the poor man. Diana had no doubt in her mind that it was Snape, though she couldn't hear his voice she knew that anyone who could be that mean towards animals was mean enough to threaten a fellow colleague.

"All right — all right —" she heard Quirrell sob.

In the next second, Quirrell shoved the door open, which nearly squashed Diana against a wall, and ran out of sight. Diana pushed the door back a little and stepped back from the wall, while trying hard not to drop any of the pile of books she had in her hands. She peeked inside the classroom but saw no on in sight, only a slight cracked door stood in the far left corner.

Diana ran back to the common room and rushed her sister and Hermione in the girls' bedroom and told them what she'd heard.

"Snape's done it, then!" cried Diana. "If Quirrell's told him how to break his spell there's nothing that's standing in his way!"

"There's still Fluffy, though," said Hermione.

"Nope, I think he already knew how to get pass that one," Heidi said annoyed.

"How can you be sure?" asked Diana puzzled.

"Don't you think it odd that what Hagrid wants the most is a dragon and then _wham_, someone comes and gives him a dragon's egg? I mean that's one big miracle chance that only happens about once every decade or so, and you'll have to excuse me, but I rarely believe in miracles."

"Oh, my god," Hermione paled dramatically.

"Wait a second!" Diana protested. "Hagrid would never tell someone how to get pass Fluffy!"

"Like he didn't tell us that he retrieved the stone before it was stolen or mentioned Nicolas Flamel, yes, I'm _positive _he wouldn't tell a soul," said Heidi sarcastically.

"But, but-"

"Oh, give it a rest will you!" snapped Heidi. "Hagrid is _not_ a reliable person! You tell a secret to him and there's no telling if he won't blur it out the next morning, intentionally or not!"

"But-"

"We're going back to study!" Heidi said in a final tone. "Our exams are due to start in a week's time and we sure as hell are _not_ gonna fail them because of your unhealthy curiosity!"

The next morning at breakfast four notes were delivered by owl to Hermione, Heidi, Diana and Draco, all containing the exact same message:

_Your detention will take place at eleven o'clock tonight._

_Meet Mr. Filch in the entrance hall._

_Professor McGonagall_

Heidi was a tad angry with the professor for wasting them a night's worth of study with worthless detentions; while Diana and Hermione didn't complain, feeling like they deserved what was coming to them.

The three girls made their way down the marble steps and towards the great hall at eleven o'clock where they met Filch, Missis Norris and Malfoy.

"Follow me," said Filch. He lit a lamp and led them out onto the castle grounds where he started making his way towards Hagrid's hut.

Hermione and the twins were sticking close to Filch while Draco was careful to walk a little way behind them. Diana had Missis Norris securely tucked in her embrace and was patting the cat lightly on her head, who seemed to appreciate the gesture greatly.

"Sorry Diana," they heard Filch say. "If it weren't for the Malfoy brat I would have let you go with polishing the trophy room with your wands, but I couldn't do that with him around." He really did sound like he meant it. Diana couldn't help as a wave of anger flooded her veins and she turned to give Draco a reproachful glare. They came to a halt in front of Hagrid's hut, where the giant was waiting for them.

"Abou' time," he said. "I bin waitin' fer half an hour already. All right, Diana, 'Eidi, Hermione?"

Filch took his cat from Diana, turned on his heals and left the group without another word.

The four kids turned expectantly towards Hagrid who was watching them thoughtfully.

"Ri't now, I s'pose yes all know where 'bout to go in the forest so-" Hagrid started but Malfoy cut him off.

"The forest?" he repeated, and he didn't sound quite as cool as usual. "We can't go in there at night — there's all sorts of things in there — werewolves, I heard."

Diana's eyes lit up at the concept of meeting a werewolf while Hermione and Heidi tensed besides her.

"Yeh are if yeh want ter stay at Hogwarts," said Hagrid fiercely. "Yeh've done wrong an' now yeh've got ter pay fer it."

"But this is servant stuff; it's not for students to do. I thought we'd be copying lines or something, if my father knew I was doing this, he'd—"

"—tell yer that's how it is at Hogwarts," Hagrid growled. "_Copyin' lines_! What good's that ter anyone? Yeh'll do summat useful or yeh'll get out. If yeh think yer father'd rather you were expelled, then get back off ter the castle an' pack. Go on."

Draco didn't move. He looked at Hagrid furiously, but then bowed his head.

"Right then," said Hagrid, "now, listen carefully, 'cause it's dangerous what we're gonna do tonight, an' I don' want no one takin' risks. Follow me over here a moment."

Hagrid guided them towards the edge of the forest where they stopped and he pointed at a silver substance (that looked suspiciously like silver mercury), lying on the ground.

"See this here is unicorn blood," he stated.

Diana gasped and clapped her hands to her mouth, looking positively sick.

"There's a unicorn in there bin hurt badly by summat. This is the second time in a week. I found one dead last Wednesday. We're gonna try an' find the poor thing. We might have ter put it out of its misery."

"But, surely there must be something we can do!" Diana protested looking desperate.

"We have ter find the poor thing first," said Hagrid.

"And what if whatever hurt the unicorn finds us first?" asked Draco, unable to keep the fear out of his voice.

"There's nothin' that lives in the forest that'll hurt yeh if yer with me or Fang," said Hagrid. "An' keep ter the path. Right, now, we're gonna split inter two parties an' follow the trail in diff'rent directions."

Diana's eyes flashed and before Draco could utter a single word she grabbed a hold of his sleeve and started dragging him towards the forest.

"We're going this way, and we're taking Fang!" she shouted at the others. "Fang!" The boarhound hurried after her obediently.

"Wait, Diana!" Hagrid tried to shout after her, but to no avail. "If yeh finds the unicorn, send up green sparks, an' if ye're in trouble, send up red sparks! Be careful!" He shouted after them but the forms of Diana, Draco and Fang were already diapering into the forest.

"Right," Hagrid turned towards the two remaining girls. "Let's go." He started walking in the opposite direction from which Diana and Draco had diapered in looking whither then a ghost.

"Don't worry Hagrid, Diana'll be fine," Heidi assured. "Malfoy on the other hand…"

------

Draco was definitely not going to come out of this trip alive, and it had nothing to do with the ominous creature that was killing of unicorns, but rather the girl in front of him who was blowing steam out of her nostrils. Diana dragged the boy along the path for ten minutes or so without uttering a single word, up until they came to a clearing of sorts where she stopped in her tracks, spun on her heals and glared at the Malfoy heir like he was something fowl on the tip of her shoe.

"I'm only gonna say this once," she growled in a threatening manner. "You pull a stunt like that on me again and I'll make sure you enter the hospital wing in a coma! Understand!"

"Diana, I seriously didn't mean to get you in trouble, I thought it was Weasley who wanted to get rid of the dragon, I wouldn't of said a word if I had known it was you, honestly!" Draco said all this in a very fast, almost desperate voice, and had a distressed expression on his face to match his state of mind.

"I did _not_ want to get rid of Norbert!" she said through gritted teeth. "I was_ forced_ to get rid of him!"

"I'm really sorry, honestly I-"

"Shut up! I would seriously throttle you right now if I didn't have a unicorn murdering _bastard_ to deal with! So you better pray we find him before I lose my patience with you."

Draco nodded gulping and lowered his head to the ground.

"Right! Let's go catch ourselves a killer! Come on Fang!" Diana spun around and started following the bloody path which the unicorn had left behind with Fang walking faithfully at her heals. Draco sighed in resignation and hurried after the two.

------

"I was wondering," Heidi's soft voice broke through the silence of the forest. "What could be so fast, or strong enough to slay a unicorn?"

"D'now," answered Hagrid truthfully. "I never knew one ter be hurt before."

They were walking along a path among the trees, with Hagrid in the front and Hermione and Heidi bringing up the rear.

"You all right, Hermione?" Hagrid whispered. "Don' worry, it can't've gone far if it's this badly hurt, an' then we'll be able ter — GET BEHIND THAT TREE!"

Heidi grabbed a hold of Hermione's sleeve and dragged her down behind a tree trunk while Hagrid took out an arrow and filled it in his crossbow looking around wildly. Something was slithering down a pack of dead leaves nearby and making and awful amount of racket. Hagrid was peering up at the dark path, but there was nothing in sight, and the noise subsided after a couple of seconds.

"I knew it," Hagrid murmured. "There's summat in here that shouldn' be."

They walked more slowly, ears straining to catch any kind of sound, up until they heard a racked ahead.

-------

Diana was getting fairly frustrated what with nothing but trees in the stinking forest. What was it that was so dang dangerous about this place she'd never guess! She was still contemplating on whether to strangle Malfoy or send a good hex his way when a squinting sort of sound made her and her two companions stop in their tracks. Draco reached for Fangs collar and dug in his pocket for his wand while Diana looked around for anything out of the ordinary.

_There_, struggling with a massive tree branch was the most enormous spider Diana had ever seen. Diana stood gaping at it in pure fascination while Draco looked ready to scream and run for his life.

"Diana," said the boy in a quivering voice. "I think we should call Hagrid."

"Don't be such a scaredy-cat!" snapped Diana. She turned back towards the spider, which had gone deathly still after hearing them talk, and slowly made her way towards it.

"Don't be afraid, I'm not gonna hurt you," assured Diana. She stopped in front of the treetop and slowly reached out a hand to touch one of the spider's enormous legs. "My name's Diana Potter," she gave the spider and encouraging smile as she slowly trailed the tip of her fingers across one of its massive leg. "I'm going to get you out of there," she assured.

Diana slowly reached inside her pocket and pulled out her wand. She lifted it up level with her eyes and showed it to the spider, indicating that she was not going to use it to harm him. "I'm going to levitate this tree branch with my wand. You just hang in there, okay?"

The spider just stood stoic in place, not giving any sign at all that he had heard her. Diana pointed her wand at the tree truck and whispered "Wingardium Leviosa." The three gave a soft snap and the spider recoiled slightly but Diana gave it a reassuring smile as she slowly lifted the massive chunk of tree off the spider's leg.

"There, how do you feel?" She asked after setting the bit of wood a few strides away from them. Her face fell when she saw the spiders crushed leg. "Hmm, not too well I see," she chewed her lips nervously while searching through her pockets for anything that could be of help. She pulled out a gray colored tissue and showed it to the spider.

"I'm gonna use this to clean up the wound. Aguamenti!" She spilled water al over the tissue and slowly traced the moist fabric over the spider's injured leg. Said creature jumped back slightly but stayed relatively still.

"There," she nodded in satisfaction. "Draco, do you have a tissue on you?"

Draco who had been stuck gaping at her for the past five minutes suddenly snapped his head up and turned to look the girl in the eyes, those beautiful hazel eyes…

"Yeah," he hastily searched his pockets and pulled out an expensive looking piece of fabric embroidered in Slytherin colors. "Here!" He handed the tissue over to Diana who took it with a grateful smile.

"Thanks," she nodded before turning back towards the spider. "I'm going to use this to dress the wound." She gestured at the tissue. Draco cringed slightly at having his expensive stuff used on a spider of all things, but held his thong. Diana might not know what she was dealing with but he most certainly knew, and he wasn't kin on evoking the spider's wrath.

"There! All better," Diana nodded approvingly at the now bandaged leg. "Think you can walk?" Draco was positive the spider couldn't understand a word she was saying, so, of course, he was stunned speechless when the spider staggered to its feet and took two tentative steps back from them, but the next thing that it did was life scaring: _it gave them a curt bow_!

"Your welcome," Diana bowed in return and the spider turned and walked clumsily deep into the forest.

"That was…_something_," Draco muttered in lack of better word. Diana gave a soft chuckle at seeing his god-smacked expression and rolled her eyes.

"Men," the red haired shock her head and turned back towards the road. "Shall we then?"

"After you milady," Draco inclined his head and gestured for the girl to go first.

"Well aren't you charming," Diana teased as she started down the road.

"I would like to believe I am," Draco said confidently.

"Quite the comedian, too." Draco pouted at hearing the words.

"Why are you always fighting with Weasley?" Diana asked after a few minutes of silence.

"I believe that's quite obvious. One, he's a Weasley, and our families have hated each other for centuries - don't ask me how it started, I don't remember myself. Two, he _is_ a Gryffindor and I _am_ a Slytherin, that's enough a reason to despise each other for life."

"Actually the second one is plain stupid," stated Diana. "You can't just judge a person because he got into a different house, I mean, imagine if one of your friends had ended up in Gryffindor, would you have abandoned him?"

"Yes," said Draco bluntly causing Diana to glare at him incredulously. "I'm a Slytherin," he started explaining, "self-preservation is one of my main interests, not friendship. In our house, we _rarely_, if never, have things that you call _friends_. Everybody struggles for himself in there, you don't _befriend_ someone because you like him, you do it because of the benefits a collaboration with such a person would bring you, and everyone else who approaches you does it for the exact same reason. You might say, we're partners in crime, but not _friends_."

"That's just wrong!" Diana shock her head disapprovingly.

"Maybe, but that's how things work in Slytherin," Draco stared.

"So, judging by your logic, I'd have to think that you only approached me because I'm one of the girls-who-lived, is it not?" Diana asked with narrowed eyes.

"Hmm," Draco didn't answer immediately, he didn't know if he should tell her the truth, that he had first approached her because he liked her. Really, the girl was gorgeous, well mannered (though she had quite a temper), and quite powerful (that was clear). But his Slytherin side had kicked in the moment he had heard her name and thought of the opportunities a relationship with one of the infamous girls-who-lived could bring, and the downfalls.

Diana suddenly grabbed a hold of Draco's hand and squeeze hard enough to almost crush the bone.

"What happened?" Draco turned to look at the girl quizzically.

Diana was standing stiffly besides him, her eyes wide and unblinking starting at something in the distance. Draco followed the girls gaze, and his eyes immediately landed on the fallen figure of a beautiful white horse which was lying motionless on the dirty ground bathed in a silvery-blue substance that seemed to be flooding freely out of its neck.

Diana gave a slight sob and looked away from the scene. She clapped her free hand over her mouth as silent tear began to roll down her face. Draco pulled the red head towards him and wrapped his arms securely around her waist. He took out his wand and shot green sparks in the air while looking grimly at the scene before him.

-----

"Who's there?" Hagrid called. "Show yerself — I'm armed!"

From between the trees emerged a magnificent creature that the girls had only heard of in legends. Heidi didn't actually know why she was so stunned to see one considering everything she had witnessed in the past week, but still…_a centaur_; a fascinating combination of human and animal. It was quite the sight to behold.

The centaur in front of them had red hair and beard, his lower body was a gleaming chestnut color with a reddish tail.

"Oh, it's you, Ronan," said Hagrid in relief. "How are yeh?"

Hagrid strode forward and shock the centaur's hand then he introduced the two girls who could only nod in acknowledgement.

The centaur seemed to be interested about the school, still, Heidi couldn't quite shake the feeling that he didn't actually agree with their educational system. It might have been because of that superior glee in his eyes, or the dismissive way he treated the school, but Heidi found herself not liking this Ronan…_guy _(?) one bit.

He then started blabbering things like "Mars is bright" to every freaking question Hagrid asked. Heidi knew for a fact that that was considered a bad omen in most predictions and such crap (which she did not believe in one bit), but seriously, did he have to use the blasted sentence after every three words that came out of his mouth?

Then another centaur came, one named Bane. _Oh, jolly how, how_! This one too, kept saying "Mars is bright" after every word that came out of his mouth.

After a few more frustrated attempts at talking to the centaurs, Hagrid finally came to his senses and left the two star gazers. Hermione was still glaring back at them while Heidi was convinced they were a heard of lunatics.

"Are there many of _them_ in here?" asked Hermione.

"Oh, a fair few," said Hagrid. "Keep themselves to themselves mostly, but they're good enough about turnin' up if ever I want a word. They're deep, mind, centaurs… they know things… jus' don' let on much."

Heidi was inclined to believe that they were just pulling on Hagrid's leg - there was no way a pack of ding heads knew shit about anything that was going on. She was slowly loosing her interest in this useless trip, and there was that worrying feeling like something was watching them. She didn't know how exactly she knew, but she did.

"Hagrid! Look! Green sparks, the others found the unicorn!"

"Let's go!" Hagrid scurried of towards the flashes of light that had colored the sky mere seconds ago, Hermione was right behind him.

Heidi was about to follow the two when suddenly pain like she'd never felt before shot through her scar, making her drop to her knees. She hastily covered the scar with her hands and began rubbing it furiously but the pain only increased in volume. Heidi lowered her head to the ground and gritted her teeth in agony. A sudden shift among the leaves managed to catch her attention and she slowly turned on her back to look up at a hooded figure which was towering over her.

She could clearly make out his ruby-red eyes burning like two torched in a dark room, a thick trail of silver and blue substance was floating down from what must have been his mouth which dropped silently on her cheek. The hooded figure drew closer, a bony hand stretched out from within his robes and reached for her. The pain in her scar increased tenfold as the distance between the figure and herself diminished, Heidi was positive her head would burst open as she let out a whimper of pain.

A drop of the silvery-blue liquid fell on her chin this time and a few seconds later she felt something soft and damp brushing slightly over her lips before it quickly retreated. She heard a galloping sound somewhere nearby and a few seconds later, a massive body flew over her and attacked the cloaked figure that scurried away into the darkness, taking along with it the searing migraine that Heidi was subdued by.

She breathed in a sight of relief and spat out the liquid that was now covering her entire mouth. She froze when she realized just what exactly the silver substance was.

_Unicorn's blood_!

Her blood ran cold and she desperately tried to wipe her face with the help of her sleeves.

"Are you alright?" asked a voice from somewhere above. Heidi lifted her head up to look in the eyes of a young centaur with white-blond hair and a palomino body.

"I will be when I kill that son of a bitch," she said angrily and tried to spit out any amount of blood that might have gone pass her lips.

"You are one of the Potter girls," he said. "You had better get back to Hagrid. The forest is not safe at this time — especially for you. Can you ride? It will be quicker this way."

Heidi struggled to get of the ground and nodded her head.

"My name is Firenze," he added, as he lowered himself on to his front legs so that Heidi could climber onto his back.

Firenze set off in the direction that Hermione and Hagrid had disappeared mere minutes ago.

"You did not swallow any amount of the blood did you?" the centaur asked after a few seconds.

"Of course not!" said Heidi as she rubbed her lips furiously on a clean part of her sleeve. "That was the thing that's been killing the unicorns, right?"

"Unfortunately," Firenze answered.

"Well, it's not much of a thing, more rather a human," Heidi said sarcastically. "But who? Who would want to kill a unicorn?"

"Do you know what unicorn blood is used for?" The centaur asked as means of an answer.

"No, we've never used it in Potions," Heidi answered.

"That is because it is a monstrous thing, to slay a unicorn," said Firenze. "Only one who has nothing to lose, and everything to gain, would commit such a crime. The blood of a unicorn will keep you alive, even if you are an inch from death, but at a terrible price. You have slain something pure and defenseless to save yourself, and you will have but a half-life, a cursed life, from the moment the blood touches your lips."

Heidi stiffened and began rubbing at her lips again more vigorously then before. "I don't think I swallowed anything," she said in an angst voice. "How can I be sure?"

"Believe me we would have known by now if you had drunk the blood. It would have been plain clear for all to see, so we can safely assume you didn't."

Heidi let out a sigh of relief and steadied her head on Firenze's back. "Thank god."

"But who'd be that desperate?" She wondered aloud. "If you're going to be cursed forever, death's better, isn't it?" Then the answer came to her as clear as the light of day. "Voldemort," she whispered and the color drained out of her face. "Voldemort is here at Hogwarts! He's in the castle grounds! He kissed me! That son of a bitch KISSED ME! I'LL KILL THAT BASTARD!!" she shrieked in Firenze's ear, who stammered slightly to the left and covered his ears with his hands.

"Please keep it down for now! It will not do to have your presence remarked by any other inhabitants of the forest," Firenze said sternly.

"Who cares who'll remark me, as long as I get to kill that bastard!" Heidi swung her legs to the side and got ready to jump of with the soul intention of hunting the bastard down and strangling him, but Firenze grabbed her by the middle and hurtled her in front of him.

"I am sorry," the centaur apologized. "But I can not let you do that!" He broke of into a sprit with Heidi securely held in his embrace.

"Put me _down_!" the girl protested and started trashing wildly around, but Firenze refused to loosen his grip; only when he came to a halt before Hagrid did he lower the girl down on the ground and released her.

Heidi was about to turn around and kick the centaur in the growing (if he had one), but she falter when she saw Hermione's distressed face. Her bushy haired friend ran up to her and swung her arms around her, burying her head in her shoulders.

"What's happened?" she asked concerned when she heard Hermione's sobs.

She looked around confused and her eyes immediately fell on the fallen figure of the unicorn. It was the most beautiful and at the same time heartbreaking sight she had ever seen. The animal looked very much like a hors if you didn't count the sharp horn on its head, the glow of pure light that seemed to envelop its entire body and of course the silver-blue blood that was splattered all over the place, giving the scene a gruesome touch. Oh, she could clearly understand the sobs that were coming from her friend right now, and Diana's weeping form who was holding on to Draco like a lifesaver, her head buried deeply in the blonds shoulder. Draco too, looked saddened by the scene before him.

------

The journey back to Hagrid's hut was not a pleasant one. Diana's legs couldn't support her at all and seeing as Hagrid went to burry the unicorn, Draco had to carry the girl on his back (something that he didn't mind doing one bit). Hermione and Heidi were a step behind, both wearing grim expressions on their face.

It took about two hours of coaching and whispers of soothing words in her ear for Diana to finally get into a fit enough state to leave Hagrid's hut. Draco and Heidi supported her all the way up towards the castle, and then Hermione took over for the blond when they reached the inside. When they finally got to Gryffindor tower none of them felt like sleeping so they crashed into seats besides the fireplace, Heidi sat in the middle while the other two rested their heads on her shoulder. They stood like that for half an hour or so, up until Diana's bitter voice broke the silence.

"Who could be as cruel as to…" her voice cracked at the end and she desperately tried to suppress a sob.

"It was Voldemort," Heidi stated unemotionally.

"How do you know?" asked Hermione.

"I saw him." Heidi told her sister and Hermione about the encounter with the cloaked figure, and the chat she had with Firenze.

"So it really was You-Know-Who," said Hermione in a quivering voice. "My _god_, we could have been _killed_ tonight!"

"Why would that bastard want to drink unicorn blood?!" Asked Diana annoyed. "Why can't he just go drop dead somewhere, for the matter! I don't think anyone would mind!"

"He needs a body," said Heidi suddenly. "And unicorn blood can provide it to him. At least for now, until he gets his hands on something better!"

"You don't mean…" asked Hermione worried.

"The stone," exclaimed Diana in shock. "Voldemort's after the stone!"

"Yes, I think he ordered Snape to get it," Heidi concluded.

"I can't believe it," Hermione shuck her head in a vain attempt at clearing the shock that was threatening to overcome her. "You-know-who, is trying to get his powers back?! We _have_ to tell Dumbledore!"

"Hell no!" Diana said. "I'm going to kill him first!_ Then_ we can tell Dumbledore!"

The conversation turned into a full out argument between the girls, on one side was Diana and Heidi who wanted nothing more then to chop Voldemorts' head off or smash it with a hammer, while on the other side was Hermione who was desperately trying to convince her two friends that going to Dumbledore was the best solution. The argument lasted well into the hours of morning and when the girls got to bed they still hadn't come to an agreement on what they were about to do, but they had all decided to drop the subject, if only for a few hours worth of a much needed sleep.


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter ****12: The Other Side of the Door**

Diana and Heidi were the most stubborn girls Hermione had ever met. They down right refused to go anywhere near Dumbledore's office and assured Hermione they would not speak to her again if she rated them out, but they did have the nerve to go visit Fluffy every night under the invisibility cloak, just to make sure he was still there. Hermione honestly didn't know how the two got through the exams but they did, and thank god that was over, because Hermione didn't know if she was able to last another day stressing over exams while worrying that her two friends might get themselves killed somehow.

"Finally, the torture is over!" exclaimed Diana in a jovial tone.

"Yes," Hermione agreed. "Thank god for that."

"You don't look to happy Mione," Diana remarked. "What has you so upset?"

"As if you didn't know."

Heidi turned to glare pointedly at her. "Stop it already! You're acting worse then Diana when she hasn't had sweets in over a day!"

"Can I help it if my two best friends are suicidal maniacs!" the bushy haired growled furiously.

"We're not suicidal maniacs! Rest assure we've taken a few steps to ensure we wouldn't get hurt on our nightly errands," assured Diana.

Hermione didn't even try to argue with the red haired, she was easily the most irrational of the group, but Heidi was a different matter all together.

Hermione leaned close to her ember eyed friend and whispered "What's your excuse?"

Heidi turned to look curiously at her. "My excuse?"

"Yes! Diana is angry at you-know-who, for killing the unicorn, and I've learned the hard way that hurting animals means a one way ticket on her black list, but you? You've got no excuse for your absurd behavior!"

"Except maybe the death of my biological parents?" Heidi said with a slightly raised brow.

Hermione glared at her. "I've known you for almost a year now! I know you don't actually give too much of a damn about them."

"Ouch! That's harsh."

"Well it's the truth!"

Heidi sighed and ran a hand through her hair. "Alright, you caught me," she bowed her head in resignation. "Do you remember when I told you the story about meeting Voldemort in the Forbidden Forest?" Hermione nodded. Heidi took one deep breath before telling her friend about the kiss. By the end of her story, Hermione's eyes had widened comically and her mouth had hit the floor about halfway through the explanation.

"He, _kissed you_…You-know-who_, kissed you_?" Hermione asked in a bewildered voice.

"Yep," Heidi nodded. "It took a while to get used to the news myself, so I don't blame you for not believing me or anything."

"Oh, I believe you," Hermione assured. "What I don't understand is _why_ would he do that?"

"I don't know. I supposed he wanted to curs me, you know since drinking unicorn blood does that to people," suggested Heidi.

"But why not just kill you out right? I mean, you were alone, why go through all the trouble of cursing you?"

"Don't know. But I sure as hell don't want to find out! And I am not letting Snape get his hands on that Stone!"

"Then be reasonable and let's go tell Dumbledore!" pleaded Hermione. "You know it's the best choice!"

Heidi nodded her head in resignation and exhaled sadly. "I know that! I've always known that, but I just couldn't help wishing for some sort of revenge, I guess, after all, that _was_ my first kiss," she said moodily.

Hermione gave her a sympathetic smile. "I know this is hard for you, but we have to do the right thing! Or at least the rational one," pleaded Hermione. "Let's go and tell Dumbledore."

Heidi mussed over Hermione's words as she automatically started playing with her necklace.

"It's beautiful," Hermione said gesturing at the necklace.

"What? Oh! This," Heidi raised the necklace up so Hermione could see it. "It was a Christmas gift. I don't really know who gave it to me - it didn't have a note or anything. Come to think of it, I have no idea who sent me my father's cloak."

"I think it might have been a Slytherin who gave you this," Hermione pointed at the necklace.

"I've worked that out myself, but I haven't come across one who seemed particularly interested in me - not like Malfoy is in my sister at least."

"Are those two dating?" asked Hermione curiously, she had after all noticed the subtle smiles and quick glances they would shoot each other's way when they would pass by in the corridors.

"No, Malfoy got into another clash with Weasley - I heard they were fighting over Diana again, not a sensitive subject to blab about if the girl in question happened to be my sister and is in hearing range. They both took a trip to Madam Pomfrey last I heard."

Hermione shock her head, the slightest trace of a smile appearing on face.

"Do you still like him? Weasley I mean?" asked Heidi.

"I…no," Heidi glared icily at her. "Yes," Hermione bowed her head in shame. "Sorry."

"I hope you're apologizing for liking Weasley, cause I don't forgive people who lie to me, so you would just be wasting your breath."

Hermione glared angrily at her. "I can't wait to see how you'll react when you finally find someone you like," she crossed her hands over her chest and started pouting.

Heidi chuckled slightly before muttering "I think you're right, I have been way too stubborn these past few weeks."

"Hmm, bout what?" asked Hermione sharply, still angry with her friend.

"About Snape and the stone," answered Heidi.

"So, we're going to tell Dumbledore?" asked Hermione excited.

"It's the rational thing to do," admitted Heidi. "I'm not happy with it, mind you, but… I can't take care of this one on my own."

Hermione beamed at her friend and hugged her. "I'm glad you finally came to your senses." She gave her a quick peek on the cheek and then sat up. "Let's go and find Diana!"

"A little impatient are we?" Heidi asked mockingly, but Hermione paid her no mind, she was eager to get rid of the problem as fast as possible, and now with Heidi on her side she knew she could do it.

The two found Diana gossiping with Lavender and Parvati by the lake. Needless to say it wasn't easy to convince the red haired girl to come along with them, but one good one-on-one talk with Heidi for about ten minutes or less had the three girls hastily making their way towards the castle.

Once inside the castle the three found themselves confronted with a challenging situation. As in: They had no idea how to get to Dumbledore's office.

"What are you three doing inside?" Professor McGonagall's stern voice had the three girls jump one foot in the air. The girls turned towards their head of house in something between relief and worry. The stern woman was carrying a pile of books in her arms and was looking at them suspiciously over her glasses.

"We would like to speak to Professor Dumbledore," asked Hermione feeling braver then normal. Heidi inwardly cursed as she saw Minerva's eyes narrow.

"Why?" asked the elder witch.

Hermione was just about to open her mouth and reply but Heidi beat her to it.

"You didn't receive word from our mother?" she adopted a desperate kind of ton, and her face twitched into one of grief. Diana caught on quick and pretended to lower her head to the ground in a resigned sort of way.

"No," said McGonagall slightly concerned. "Did something happen?"

"Our aunt Marge, she's sick," Heidi choked our. "Mom wrote saying she took her to the hospital. She doesn't know exactly what's wrong with her, but it didn't sound too good." Diana started sobbing at this point. "Please, you have to let us speak with Professor Dumbledore! We need to go there and see what's wrong with her!"

McGonagall looked distressed at the girls' grieving faces, whiled Hermione had her head bowed, not daring to look up; she would not be a part of this theater again!

"I am sorry to hear that," said Minerva sounding regretful, "but Professor Dumbledore left ten minutes ago. He received an urgent owl from the Ministry of Magic and flew off for London at once."

Hermione's head shot up and the twins shared a panicked look before turning back towards their teacher.

"When will he be back?" asked Diana close to a panic attack.

"Professor Dumbledore will be back tomorrow," said Minerva. "But, if you want to, I think I can have you two sent home early, I'm sure Dumbledore would understand."

Crap! The plan had backfired on them it seamed. With Dumbledore gone, there was no doubt in the girls' mind that Snape would try and steal the stone tonight, and McGonagall wanted to send the twins home to visit their supposedly sick aunt. They couldn't let that happen!

"But Professor, you do not have the authority required to do a thing like that! It could get you fired!" Heidi protested.

"I'm sure Dumbledore would understand," Minerva said calmly. "I'm positive he would give you permission to go home under the circumstances."

"We are grateful Professor, but, we can wait one more day. We wouldn't want to get you in any kind of trouble, after all, you are our favorite teacher," Heidi tried again, praying that McGonagall would take the bait.

It worked, Minerva's lips twitched into something akin to a smile, and her eyes softened slightly. "Alright," she conceded. "But if you get another owl from your mother, come directly to my office and I'll have you home in no time."

"Thank you Professor," the girls smiled gratefully at her and waited for her to leave before sharing panicked looks.

"He's gonna steal it tonight," Hermione whispered desperately.

"We've figured as much," nodded Diana. "What do we do?" she asked her twin.

"We hex Snape!" Heidi said. "It's the easiest way out. Dumbledore won't stay up until tomorrow at the Ministry because, I'm sure Snape sent that owl, so if we manage to keep him out of the chamber until Dumbledore returns, we should be fine!"

"But hexing a teacher?!" Hermione looked outraged.

"Do you have a better idea?" snapped Heidi.

"Good afternoon," Snape's silky voice had the girls jumped out of their skin. They turned around to look at their Potions Professor with guilty expressions carved all over their face. Diana was plain out glaring at him, Hermione looked fearful, while Heidi had an impassive expression on her face that gave away nothing, if you didn't count her stiff poise.

"You shouldn't be inside on a day like this," he said, with an odd, twisted smile.

"We had to talk with our head of house," Heidi answered brusquely.

"And am I wrong in believing that you have accomplished your task," he inquired.

"No, we were just about to head outside," Heidi said smoothly.

"Then, may you have a pleasant day," Snape gestured towards the door.

"You too, Professor," Heidi grabbed a hold of the other two girls and dragged them out of the Great Hall and down towards the lake.

"Son of a…" Diana snarled the moment she was out the doors.

"I still think hexing him is a pretty desperate move, and I don't think a bunch of first year can be a match for a teacher," said Hermione.

"You might have a point there," nodded Heidi.

"How bout we follow him around and make sure he doesn't get pass Fluffy," suggested Hermione. "I can go and stand guard at the staff room, I'll just pretend I'm waiting for a teacher or something. And you two can go up to stay with Fluffy, it's not like he'll hurt you, or anything."

"That might not work," said Heidi.

"Why?" asked Hermione.

"McGonagall is watching us from the window," whispered Diana.

"What?" Hermione turned her head slightly and saw the silhouette of Minerva McGonagall looking down at them from the window in her office.

"She must be worried that we'd do something stupid to get Dumbledore to come back quicker or something. It seems my brilliant plan blew up in my face so to speak," Heidi cursed with a few colorful words.

"Not so lady like are you sissy?" Diana teased earning herself a death glare from her sister.

Heidi looked ready to throw a temper tantrum, but Hermione interrupted their little chatter. "She's not watching me! I can still follow Snape around!"

"Its better then nothing," Heidi agreed. Hermione took her leave from the two while the twins tried to act normal and remained outside until the first students started piling back in the school. They were about to go up to the common room when Hermione called up to them looking positively pale.

"F#$K!" Heidi said while smiling miserably at her friend, Hermione in turn gave her an apologetic smile.

"Sorry!"

"Don't kill yourself over it," Heidi sighed.

"So, what do we do now?" asked Diana.

"We go up to our common room, we speed scan all the hexes, jinxes and cursed we've learned and then we go down and stun ourselves a bastard," Heidi stated simply. The other two nodded. "But first we go eat, no use dying on an empty stomach." The other two couldn't agree more and entered the great hall for dinner.

Snape wasn't at the staff table, neither were Quirrell and Dumbledore.

After diner the three took their usual spots in the corner of the common room and waited for the students to pill out while doing some furious last-minute-reading. Lavender and Parvati turned in quite early and Heidi went to retrieve the cloak a few minutes following they're leave. After silently cursing him for about half an hour, Lee Jordan (that F#$g $$ whole) finally decided it was time to turn in and left for the dorms. The girls wasted no time in dumping their books and hurrying towards the entrance door, however a voice made them pause half way out of the common room.

"Where are you going?" it was Neville, who had been sitting in the armchair that was turned towards the window, his pet Trevor the toad was struggling to break free from his embrace.

"Nowhere Neville," said Hermione nervously.

"You're going out again aren't you?" he asked.

"N-" Hermione started saying but Diana cut her off.

"I have a date," she said. "Got a problem with that?"

"No, but-" Neville never got to finish what he had started since Heidi took out her wand and petrified the poor kid.

"Sorry Neville," Heidi apologized, "but we really don't have time for this!"

They left Neville feeling slightly guilty and paranoid. The castle was too silent for any of their liking. The statues seemed rusty and old, the portraits were laying motionless on the walls, not one snoring sound or shadow disturbed their way down towards the third floor, not even Filch or Missis Norris. The eerie silence which they encountered outside of Fluffy's door made them go berserk, Diana for one, disentangled herself from the cloak and stormed into the room like a wild Hippogriff.

"Fluffy!"

Diana looked desperate around the room for the giant three headed dog and was relieved to find him sleeping soundly on the floor. Hermione and Heidi closed the door after entering the room.

"Are you MAD!" Heidi hissed. "You could have been seen!"

"What's that sound?" asked Hermione.

That was when the girls heard it. The most beautiful of sounds playing softly in the air, like a lullaby a mother would sing to make her child go to sleep. They scanned the room and saw a harp lying neatly at Fluffy's feet.

"That's it?" Heidi asked skeptically. "You just have to sing to it?"

"We better try and get pass the door while Fluffy's still asleep," Hermione said, but to her dismay, the harp stopped its bewitchful singing and Fluffy gave a growl of confusion before its eyes landed on the forms of the three girls. The dog barked enthusiastically and wagged its tail around.

"Diana," Heidi said.

"Right," Diana nodded. "Fluffy, we have to talk!" The dog obediently sat on his front legs and brought his eyes level with Diana.

"Ok," Diana nodded with a smile. "Now listen to me. There's a bad man who's trying to steal what you are guarding!" Fluffy tilted his head curiously and then looked around while growling threateningly, then he stopped and sniffed the air, then le looked back at Diana with a puzzled expression on his three heads.

"No, Fluffy," Diana tried to explain. "He already got pass you! And we need you to let us go down there so we can catch him before he can steal what you're guarding! Will you let us go?"

The three heads of the hellhound shock simultaneously.

"Fluffy, this is important!" Diana tried again, but Fluffy wouldn't budge, he crossed his front paws firmly over the trap door and refused to move.

"Diana, start singing!" ordered Heidi.

"But," Diana tried to protest, but one pointed look from her sister had her singing the first song that flew to mind: _the Hogwarts Song_.

Hermione was stunned speechless when she heard her. She would never have thought that anyone was capable of making that song sound half way decent, but Diana had one hell of a voice. Fluffy had lowered his heads on his paws by the end of the first verse and began snoring loudly much to the girls' delight.

"Herms, when I give you the signal, cast the levitating charm on him, we'll try lifting him together," Heidi instructed. Hermione nodded and pulled out her wand. "3…2…1…go!"

Two cries of _Wingardium Leviosa_ echoed in the room as two jets of gold light flew from the tip of Hermione and Heidi's wands and enveloped the gigantic dog in a blanket of glowing light.

"Try to move it towards the left," Heidi said.

"Got it," Hermione nodded and tried wilding the hellhound to move towards her left.

The dog however did not give any signs of moving until half way through the song, and even then, it started edging agonizingly slow towards the designated area. Diana finished the song and had to start all over again, before the girls managed to move the large dog half way off the door.

"One more time, come on girls," Heidi prompted, an luckily this time they did manage to remove Fluffy from the door.

"Merlin's beard, I never thought a dog could be so much trouble," sighed Hermione as she and the others moved towards the door.

Their happiness was short lived however when the girls encountered the second obstacle of the journey, and that came in the shape of a bottomless hole.

"Ok, who's first?" Heidi asked the other two. Diana gave her a glare as she continued her song while Hermione crossed her arms over her chest. "Right," Heidi turned back towards the seemingly unending opening and said: "See you later," to the girls before jumping in.

It was quite an uncomfortable feeling - falling that is. Heidi definitely didn't like the anxiety that came with it. That cruel, inevitable feel of helplessness because you had absolutely no control over your actions whatsoever, like you were in a game where every move was coordinated by something else, a lifeless puppet. She _detested_ it and was quite glad to finally be liberated from it as she hit the bottom with a muffled thump.

Heidi took a few deep breaths and tried to shake off the feeling of vulnerability that was threatening to overtake her and willed herself to sit up. Only darkness lei before her eyes - the only source of light being the miniature square from which she had fallen.

"It's quite dark down here, but it's a soft landing - you can jump!" she called out to the other two girls. Hermione fell instantly at her side. Diana too followed shortly. And then the girls had the unfortunate joy of finding out exactly what the thing that they landed on was, as the plants' tendrils started wrapping themselves around the girls' ankles.

"Devil's Snare," cried Hermione as she struggled to free her feet from the plants' bone crushing grip. "I can't believe they decided to put this here!" the bushy haired snarled as she took out her wand and screamed _Lumos_! The plant immediately released her and recoiled back from the source of light. Heidi and Diana followed promptly and the three girls stepped on a stone passageway that seemed to be the only way forward.

"That was definitely Sprouts'," Heidi said bitterly.

"I _hate_ plants! I _hate_ Herbology even more!" Diana growled as she walked briskly pass the two other girls, eager to get as much distance between herself and the plant. Heidi and Hermione couldn't help but laugh at Diana's behalf.

"Oh, yeah, go on ahead and laugh, we'll see who's laughing at the end!" Diana snapped and ran off towards the end of the passageway and straight into a brilliant illuminated chamber, lit by millions of little shapes of golden light. A massive wooden door was visible on the other side of the room.

"Wow," Diana stared mesmerized at the floating little figures.

"That is something you don't see every day," Hermione marveled.

"What are they here for?" asked Diana baffled. "They're not gonna attack us are they?"

"And what, are we supposed to fight them with brooms?" Heidi asked sarcastically pointing at the three brooms which lei neatly in a corner. "I don't think so."

Diana took one glare at the brooms and stalked towards the door - she was _not_ going to be caught dead on one _ever again_!

_Or maybe she was_, thought Diana miserably after about ten failed attempts of unlocking the door.

"Heidi! Hermione! You surely know _something_ that can get us out of this mess, right?" Diana asked hopefully. "I mean, we're not about to go and fight a bunch of flying thingies on brooms just to get pass this room, right?" Diana's hopeful expression fell when she saw the thoughtful way the two know-it-alls were throwing at the flying bundles of light.

"Those," Heidi pointed at the ceiling, "are keys!"

"It seems like we have to find the one that matches the door," Hermione muttered.

"Perfect!!" Diana said gleefully. "Heidi, have at it!" she ordered and sat on the ground.

Heidi turned to give her a disbelieved look.

"What?! You're the Gryffindor _Seeker_! You _clearly_ don't need _my_ help to get a bloody key out of the sky!"

"But they're too many!" protested Hermione.

"Then by all means, join her if you must. I'll be right here when you're done," said the red haired and leaned back to rest her head on the wooden door.

"Drop it Herms, she's not gonna help," Heidi said when she saw that Hermione was about to start screaming abuse at the girl.

Heidi walked up to the brooms and grasped one firmly in her hand before mounting it and kicking off the ground, Hermione was right behind her.

As the two girls rose up towards the ceiling they saw that indeed the shapes of flickering light were keys with flying wings.

"This must be Flitwick's task," mussed Heidi. She grinned nastily and said: "Oh, petty shall bestow upon thy, lame excuse of a Charms student, when thou can not even pass the test that thy beloved Professor so gallantly layer out before thy very eyes." Hermione laughed out loud.

"Were did that come form?"

"Just thought it up," winked Heidi.

"Ha, ha, very funny," said Diana from somewhere below. "Did you get the key yet?"

"Found it," cried Heidi as she sped up towards the far left corner of the room. "The silver one with the broken wing," she pointed out and Hermione too rushed towards it.

The two girls flung at it, one from below and one from above, but the key managed to dodge them both and the two girls nearly collided with one another.

"Sorry Herms," Heidi muttered and dove after the evasive silver key which was flying crisscross in the other direction. The key was no where near as fast as the Snitch, but the broom was slow as a donkey, and Heidi was having a hard time keeping her calm under her present flying conditions.

"Screw this," she said and pulled out her wand. "Flipendo!" she snarled. A shockwave of sorts flew out of her wand and knocked down several keys on its way towards the Silver one which was unceremoniously thrown into the wall. Heidi sped up towards it and crashed it against the concrete surface.

"Cheater!" screamed Diana down below.

"This is not Quidditch," grinned Heidi, "therefore, I did not cheat!"

Heidi and Hermione landed beside Diana, and Heidi hurtled the key into the lock and opened the door. The key barely managed to take flight again as the girls entered the next room which appeared to be clouded in darkness.

The light switched and the door banged shut as soon as the three girls took a few steps into the room. They found themselves facing an enormous chessboard which's pieces seemed to be made out of stone.

"What now?" asked Diana as Heidi groaned out loud.

"This is not happening," the ember eyed girl looked miserably at the chess-room in front of her.

"We have to play our way across the room, I think," said Hermione.

"Oh," Diana looked slightly pale. "Heidi," she said in a sweet voice. "You'll play in my place two, right?"

"No idea," Heidi went to stand before the black queen and inquired. "Do we have to be part of the game? As in play as chess pieces?" She hoped not, but to her dismay the queen nodded her head. "Great! Bloody perfect!"

"So, what am I playing as?" asked Diana cheerfully.

"The knight," Heidi answered. "I'm sure you and the horse will get along well."

Diana bounced delighted over towards the knight who hopped off the horse and helped Diana mount it. "Hi horsey," she patted the stone made horse on the head.

"Hermione you're the King," said Heidi.

"The king?" asked Hermione confused as she saw the black kind step off the chessboard.

"Well," sighed Heidi. "If this is anything like wizard's chess, then I'm gonna need at least one of you to be out of my hair so I can concentrate on winning instead of saving your asses."

"What do you mean…like wizard's chess?" asked Diana slightly pale.

"Your majesty, if you may," Heidi gestured towards the side of the board and the queen promptly left her position. "You'll see," the ember eyed girl said as she took the place of the queen.

A pawn from the white pieces moved forward two steps.

"You there, forward two squares!" Diana watched in pure horror as the white pawn smashed the black one of the board and claimed its position. "Like that," said Heidi, a grim expression carved on her face.

"WAIT JUST A MINUT HERE!" shrieked Diana. "I SO DO NOT WANNA TAKE PART IN THIS!"

"Too late to turn back now," said Heidi. "But don't worry, the knights and the queen are my favorite pieces, I've never lost any in a game. I'm fairly confident I can pull this off."

"HOW CONFIDENT?" asked Diana.

"99%, good enough for yah?"

"NO!"

Heidi honestly didn't care, so she ignored her sister as she concentrated on the game. The white pieces showed no mercy ever time they took their pieces and bashed the floor with them like they were pigs in a slaughter house. Diana was angered by the viciousness which their opponents were displaying towards they own and so was quite happy when she got a chance to repay the white pieces for their hospitality, and her sister hadn't been kidding when she said that she favored the knights and queen - they were _everywhere_. Heidi for one was using her position as queen with a vengeance, darting from left to right and clearing out most of the white chessmen, while Hermione was looking plain bored whit her position as the king, she only had to move once to avoid a knight which was hastily thrown off the board by Heidi.

Heidi suddenly stopped dead in her tracks. The white queen had moved in a diagonal line right in front of Heidi and was towering majestically over her.

The white king was cornered, since it had had the _brilliant_ idea of performing the castling a few moves ago, and thereof effectively trapping itself. Of course he had mounted a defense, mainly the queen, but she was backed up by the bishop, who in itself was not that a big problem. Now only if she could get rid of the queen, she'd be free to checkmate the king, but how? How to get rid of the queen? And then it hit her: _her knight_! He was in a dang perfect position to check the king and therefore force the queen to take him, and get out of her way so she could end this stupid game! But was she willing to give up her knight? Nope! She continued studying the board for further possibilities - there were always alternatives, you just had to look for them.

"Damn, whoever did this is good," they heard Heidi mutter after a few minutes of scanning the chessboard madly, looking for _something_.

"Heidi, something wrong?" asked her sister.

"No darling, nothing's wrong," Heidi sighed in embarrassment and said "knight to…_C-8_," she had a bitter tone attached to her voice as she gave the final command. The white queen swooped down on the poor knight like thunder and cracked him up into tiny bits in one mighty swing. Heidi looked on angrily as her faithful chess piece crumbled to the ground in tiny bits an pieces and closed her eyes in resignation, as if morning an old friend. When she opened her eyes again they were burning with uncontrolled fury. She stalked forward and stopped right in front of the white king, glaring at the chess piece with absolute repulsion.

"_Drop dear_!" she hissed unwilling to forgive the massive strike that her ego had taken. The kind bowed down to her, thus ending the game.

"Thank god!" cried Diana as she bounced off her hors and dashed towards the door. "Are you coming or not?" she snapped when she saw her sister hadn't moved. She was still glaring at the fallen knight's dismembered shape. "Heidi!"

"Coming!" Heidi grumbled and stalked forward, Hermione at her side.

The three entered another passageway, which they walked in relative silence up until they stumbled across another door. Diana wasted no time in opening it, but as soon as she did so she wished she hadn't as a disgusting smell flung out of the room and filled their nostrils, making the girls bury their noses in their robes.

Right in front of them, spread on the marble floor, was a troll even larger then the one they had encountered last Halloween night. It was knocked out cold, with a big lump on its head from which blood was still flowing slightly.

"Now, for _that_ type of creature, I _don't_ feel sorry," declared Diana.

"I'm relieved we don't have to face that," muttered Hermione. Heidi nodded mutely and the three girls made their way across the room as quick as possible. Diana yanked the door leading to the next room open in one mighty pull and hurried into the room with the others trailing slightly behind her. Immediately after the girls stepped over the threshold purple flames sprang up behind them, blocking the entrance while black flames enveloped the door on the other side.

Diana removed the sleeve of her robe off her face and took in a deep breath of fresh air, then stopped to look quizzically at the room.

There was nothing interesting about it (bar the flames). In fact, all that it had was a table with seven different types of bottles standing on it.

"Snape's," growled Diana.

"Seems like it," nodded Hermione as she approached the pile of bottles. She saw a piece of parchment lying neatly in front of the table and read it once before muttering "It's a riddle!" with a huge smile on her face.

Heidi peered over her shoulder at the piece of parchment while Diana turned to study the bottles on the table.

The red haired saw the two know-it-alls read and re-read the thing over again, then look at the bottles, the read again and finally got tired.

"It's this one," she stated holding up the smallest bottle on the table. "Someone's already drank from it!" she pointed out.

"You can't be sure Diana," snapped Hermione. "Now put that back down and let us-DIANA!"

The red haired didn't give a dang what the other two had to say, she just knew it instinctively that that bottle was the one, so she drowned it in one gulp and ran up through the black flames and out of sight.

Heidi looked in utter shock at the spot her sister had just disappeared through and yanked the parchment out of Hermione's hands scanning it furiously before sighing in relief - it seemed that her sister got lucky this time.

"Herms!" she shock the other girl back to reality. "We're drinking this and going straight to Dumbledore!" she held up the first bottle from the left.

"But, what about Diana?" Hermione protested.

"She took the bottle with her," Heidi snapped. "We can't just sit around here and wait for Snape to come and catch us, we have to bring reinforcements!"

Hermione nodded and took a mouthful of the first potion which iced up her throat then she together with Heidi went through the purple flames with the soul intention of finding Dumbledore.


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter ****13:Two-faced Bastard**

Diana stormed through the menacing flames like walking through thin air and came to a halt at the other side of the door where a vast room opened up in front of her, with a staircase that lead down towards the strange mirror she and her sister had found in the abandoned classroom the night of Heidi's first Quidditch match, and standing right besides it was non other then Professor Quirrell.

"YOU!" gasped Diana.

"Me," said Quirrell calmly. "I was wondering whether I'd be meeting you here tonight - you and your sister that is. Where is Heidi?"

"But I thought Snape-"

"Severus?" Quirrell laughed, and it wasn't his usual quivering treble, but a cold and sharp laugh. "Yes, Severus does seem the type, doesn't he? So useful to have him swooping around like an overgrown bat. Next to him, who would suspect p-p-poor, st-stuttering P-Professor Quirrell?"

Diana just stud there glaring incredulously at him.

"You're the son of a bitch who killed the unicorns!" she accused.

"That is correct. Now tell me, where is your sister?" Quirrell asked looking suspiciously around the room.

"None of your damn business!" Diana snarled as she pulled out her wand and attempted to curs Quirrell, but said teacher snapped his fingers and ropes sprang out of nowhere and wrapped themselves around Diana, effectively trapping her in place. The empty bottle of potions fell out of Diana's hand and hit the floor with a crack, shattering in tiny bits and pieces.

Quirrell took one look at it and smiled an unpleasant smile. "She's not here. You came alone? Interesting… " Quirrell gave her a calculative look before asking: "Tell me child, did you actually believe that you would be a match for me on your own? That was quite foolish of you my dear."

Diana glowered at him. "You let me out of these ropes and I'll show you just how foolish I really am!"

"That would be, interesting," chuckled Quirrell who pulled out his wand. For a moment Diana actually thought the stupid man would let her go, but then a growling, angry voice spoke.

"Enough with this child play, Quirilius! Get me the stone!" the voice seemed to be coming from Quirrell himself, or more likely, from the back of his head.

Diana looked stunned at her Defense Professor as said person apologized and hastily returned to studying the mirror.

Quirrell moved around the mirror to look at the back and Diana was left looking straight at the mirror. She nearly gasped when she saw her sister standing besides her reflected self with the stone clutched securely in her hand. Heidi brought the stone down towards her waist and let it fall into mirror-Diana's pocket. At the same time, Diana felt a weight land soundlessly in the pocket of her jeans and looked down in wonder. There it was, the stone was…well, not clearly visible, but she could feel it…and she was bound in place by ropes.

_Damn my luck_!

Quirrell came back from behind the mirror still looking positively baffled. "What does this mirror do? How does it work? Help me, Master!" he pleaded and that awful voice answered again:

"Use the girl… Use the girl…"

Quirrell turned towards Diana.

"Yes — Diana— come here."

He clapped his hands once and the roped binding Diana diapered.

Diana gave Quirrell a mocking look as if telling him that no one would be stupid enough to listen to him then she spun around and ran up the stairs. She didn't get far as flames started to engulf the entire room, blocking her only escape road. She spun on the spot to look desperately around the room only to see the roaring fire everywhere she turned.

"Come here Potter!" snarled Quirrell.

"Let me speak to her… face-to-face…" the awful voice spoke again.

"Master, you are not strong enough!"

"I have strength enough… for this…"

Diana felt herself rotting in place as if someone had placed a full body bind on her, all that she could do was watch as Quirrell reached up an undid his turban. The turban fell soundlessly to the floor and Quirrell slowly turned around to reveal a…hideous face at the back of his head. It was the most awful sight Diana had ever been forced to behold, because she sure as hell wouldn't of stayed put if she could move, no, she would have gone through fire and ice to get away from the horrible sight before her.

"Diana Potter…" the face whispered. "See what I have become? Mere shadow and vapor… I have form only when I can share another's body… but there have always been those willing to let me into their hearts and minds… Unicorn blood has strengthened me, these past weeks… and once I have the Elixir of Life, I will be able to create a body of my own… Now… why don't you give me that Stone in your pocket?"

Diana stared pitifully at the…_thing_ in front of her. She did not wish such a fate, not even to a unicorn killer, but she could not bring herself to give the stone up.

"I can't," she managed to say in a quivering voice.

"Why?" The thing asked curiously.

"Because you'd use it to kill people," she said in a clear and resolute tone then spun around and searched desperately for an escape path.

"SEIZE HER!" Voldemort screamed and Quirrell lung himself at her. The moment Quirrell's hands came in contact with her skin a blinding pain the likes Diana had never felt before shot threw her scar and made her drop to her knees and desperately tried to free herself from Quirrell, and to her surprise, the man let her go. The pain in her scar subsided and Diana turned around to look at Quirrell, whose hands were blistering right before her eyes.

"Seize her! SEIZE HER!" shrieked Voldemort again, and Quirrell lunged, but Diana dived out of his way and pulled out her wand.

"Petrificus Totalus!" she cried, but unfortunately Quirrell moved out of the way and pulled out his own wand, which he held loosely in his burned up fingers.

"Stupefy!" Quirrell snarled and a jet of red light shot out of his wand and rocked towards Diana. The red haired rolled out of the way and attempted to perform the full body bind again, but unfortunately Quirrell had closed the distance between them and grabbed her roughly by the neck with one arm, while the other took a firm grip on her wand arm.

Both Quirrell and Diana let out a piercing scream as unimaginable pain shot through them knocking them both to the ground. Diana however wouldn't give up - her Gryffindor pride wouldn't let her - she dug her knee hard in the poor man's goring - who immediately released her - then she pointed her wand at Quirrell's chest and cried "FLIPENDO!" which sent the man flying a few steps backwards.

Diana crawled to her feet and made another desperate attempt at freedom, but Quirrell apparently had remembered he was a wizard and shot a propelling spell at her, which flung her hard into the concrete wall. Diana fell down with a thumb and before she knew it, Quirrell was keeling besides her, searching her pockets.

Diana reacted on instinct; she flung her hands at him and grabbed a hold of his face. Diana saw, though only barely, as Quirrell's face began to redden then blister and concluded that he could not touch her bare skin. So Diana did the only natural thing one could do in that situation and took a firm grip of Quirrell's head, hoping against hope that she'd somehow managed to hold on until Dumbledore got here, despite the searing pain that was threatening to overtake her.

She heard Quirrell's screams of pain, and Voldemort's angry growl, but also another voice so familiar, whispering soothingly in her ear:

"_Let go! You're safe now!_"

For a slight moment she thought that that voice belonged to her mother…her dead mother, up until she remembered that she had in earnest never heard her voice and then she remembered.

_Heidi_!

Yes, that voice belonged to her sister. And there was no on in the world that she trusted more then her, so she let go, and let herself be enveloped by a mantra of unyielding darkness.

------

_Na_

_Ana_

_Diana_

"Diana!" she felt a soft hand shaking her lightly, urging her to wake. That sound of her favorite voice echoed gently in her ear uttering her name repeatedly with a smile. She could feel it, almost picture it. Diana slowly opened her eyes to look straight into the gaze of captivating emerald eyes - those beautiful eyes she had wished so many times to have inherited herself.

"Hey," Heidi uttered as means of greeting, a brilliant smile was plaster on her porcelain face, and that was all the reassurance Diana needed to know everything was alright.

"Hey," the red haired answered, feeling the beginning of a smile form on her own lips.

"Good afternoon, Diana," a third party greeted from somewhere to her left. Diana turned her head toward the sound only to come face to face with none other then Albus Dumbledore, who was sting calmly on a chair next to the bed, dressed in a ridiculous neon green colored robe that looked very much like a dress.

"That's quite a dress you have there, sir," Diana couldn't contain the comment. "Though I recommend a matching hat, for the full effect, maybe you should paint your beard too!"

Dumbledore chuckled slightly before nodding his head. "I'll try to remember that."

"Where am I?" Diana turned to ask her sister.

"The hospital wing," Heidi answered and Diana groaned out loud.

"Stop acting like such a baby," Heidi scolded.

"When can I get out of here?" the red haired looked desperate now. It was no secret that Diana hated hospitals, ever since that time when Petunia had taken her to draw blood, she had loathed them.

"In three days," answered Heidi earning herself another loud groan from her sister.

"Sir, you promised you'd explained what happened down in the chamber when my sister would wake up," Heidi prompted.

Dumbledore nodded and started his explanation. Diana found out that she had been asleep for three days, alongside Heidi, who had apparently collapsed around the same time she had, because of a mind crushing pain in her scar. Now that was weird.

"I think there is a connection between the two scars that it enables one to feel when the other is in peril or in a sufficient amount of pain," he had given as means of an explanation.

Then he had gone on and explained about the Sorcerer's stone, why Diana had gotten it out of the mirror and how it was destroyed, and Quirrell being left there to die by Voldemort, and that Voldemort would try to come back through other means. So far so good, the girls' impression of Dumbledore was something akin to admiration, sure he needed a complete change in wardrobe and that beard of his could do with some shaving but at least he was proving to be an interesting person, up until they came to _that_ part.

"_Love_?" asked Heidi doubtfully.

"Love," answered Dumbledore merrily.

The soul concept of Quirrell not being able to touch Diana because of _love_ was out right ridiculous in both girls' opinion, though Diana did consider it kind of cute, there was no freaking way she'd believe it.

Hermione came in after Dumbledore and told the girls about the gossips that had been going on through the school (Heidi looked nothing next to pleased at hearing of her housemates' pathetic loss against Ravenclaw), while Diana and Heidi filled her in on what Dumbledore had told them, and Diana recounted the events from inside the chamber.

Then Hagrid came and visited the girls, and the two found themselves trying to pacify the half giant, but it seems like he was too engulfed in self pity to listen to a word they said. He did however present them with a photo album of their parents when he finally cam around, something which pleased the girls immensely.

The exam results finally came, and the girls were pleased to find out they had all pass with flying colors. Hermione and Heidi were the top of the year (as per expected), while Diana ranked nr five (how that happened she would never know), but it did and that was over, and their trunks were packed, and the last-minute goodbyes all over and done with, and the train pulled into London station, and the twins couldn't help but grin as the feel of the two months of fun and relaxation together with their families washed over them and blew out all other concern from their minds.

-------

End of first year!

I uploaded this early because I'll be busy in the next couple of days and therefore, I don't think I'll be able to meet the dead-line.

The first chapter of Chamber of Secrets will be uploaded on Friday of the following week, under the name of: "The Girls Who Lived: Chamber of Secrets", and it will be under Tom. R. Jr./OC.

I want to express my sincere gratitude to those who've bothered to review and favorite this story, I know it wasn't much of a romance, but second year will hopefully compensate for it. Thank for reading/reviewing/favoriting the story. Hope to see you in second years. Cheers!


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